NOTE: A Special Thanks to McKenna Holman (MTN Reporter) for providing the video.
By McKenna Holman, MTN Reporter
August 5, 2023
GREAT FALLS — The new ice season begins on August 28, 2023, at the Great Falls Ice Plex, so they are asking volunteers to help clean up and renovate the place to get ready for the new season. Mark Finnicum, president of the Great Falls Community Ice Foundation, said they hope to get as many volunteers as they can get to help with painting, cleaning and more.
“We’ve got our work event going on Thursdays 6 to 8 pm and Saturday mornings nine to noon for basically the whole month of August,” said Finnicum. “What we’re doing is we’re doing a lot of painting right now [and] we’re doing a lot of shoveling and raking sand so that the ice surface will be flat, just like it should be.”
They are actively looking for more volunteers and have their work event schedule, as well as their calendar for the new season on their website. They are also taking donations and looking for sponsors for the 2023 season.
One of the volunteers, Krista Smith, has been involved with the Great Falls Americans hockey team for about 5 years and loves helping out with the team and the Ice Plex.
“We have an absolute love for the ice plex and all of the fun that goes along with it, but it takes a lot of work to get it ready for every season so that’s why we’re here,” said Smith.
Krista said they are all very excited for the new season to start.
“We are going to start seeing players coming into Great Falls in the next two or three weeks. They’re here for training camp right away and then things are going to get going,” said Smith. “We’ve got games coming up in early September, so the ice is coming and the players are coming and we are super excited.”
“One of our main fundraising things that we’re doing in our capital campaign is we’re raising money to get rid of the sand floor that we have and replace it with concrete, we’re still looking for money for that,” said Finnicum. “We’re looking for donors and we’re also looking for people that want to sponsor the building with their name and their businesses, so we have all kinds of opportunities like that available.”
The Ice Plex is located at 4001 29th Street SW; click here to visit the website.
Story Courtesy: MTN (KRTV): Wanted: volunteers to help prep Great Falls Ice Plex for new season (August 5, 2023)