The Lacombe Athletic Park Association recently held their annual gala in support of improvements coming to the park.
The gala, which is part of an effort to raise an additional $2 million to match the $2 million donated by MEGlobal, featured celebrities including Edmonton Eskimo Tanner Green and Olympic athlete Jessica O’Connell.
Green said it means a lot to be able to come back and support the sports community in Lacombe.
“I am glad to see how much they are doing and how much it is going to help kids,” he said.
Green said the last batch of improvements to the Lacombe Athletic Park were just finishing when he was graduating high school.
“I remember being sad that we were done and we didn’t get to play on this awesome new field. I hopped on to the Bucs’ as soon as I could and I was finally able to step on that field. It is so much better than a natural grass field,” he said.
Green remembers how the support of his home town helped propel his career to the Canadian Football League (CFL).
“It really gave me the initial love for football coming out to Friday night games. The atmosphere of Lacombe gave me my love for it and helped me stick with it,” he said.
The hometown experience promises to get better with the proposed $4 million expansion to locker room area and a brand new track and field facility. The yearly LAPA gala goes a long way to reaching that goal.
“This event is amazing. I am so glad to be able to come back this year. Last year as amazing and to have this year fully sold out with all of these amazing donation items from the community is amazing. You may not see it, but this will do so much for kids,” he said.
Organizer Jay Adamson said the event is one of the biggest fundraisers for LAPA every year.
“MEGlobal gave us a $2 million and they are our title sponsor,” he said. “We are very appreciative of everything they do for us. With the overall project, if we get everything we want, it will come out to just over $4 million.
“We have to meet to meet our fundraising goals and this is one of the events that gets us closer each time.”
Diane Hayduk, organizer said the next big event is coming soon.
“On June 20, we will have a Gord Bamford Music Festival and we are really pumped to have him come with a bunch of guests. We will be fundraising for that and hopefully a lot of people will come out,” she said.
todd.vaughan@lacombeexpress.com
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