Two Communities Meet At The Arena
Two communities will come together at the Meaford Arena on October 12th, the date of the Home Opener for the Knights of Meaford hockey team. For the first time, the game will be kicked off with the national anthem performed live. The singers performing the anthem will from our local musical community, a practice that will continue through the season at all home games.
Emma Wright will be singing the anthem at the first game. She is an obvious choice, not only because of her talent but because she has sung the anthem for several years at the Canada Day ceremonies in Meaford.
The idea originated with Jason Acres, Marketing Director for the team.
“Every year we try to make out program better,” he says, “In years past we’ve had a DJ, but this year we’ll be bringing in someone to sing the anthem.”
To find the singers to perform, Jason turned to Chris Scerri Presents. Chris was happy to take on the task, a chance for him to do something different from the big shows that he has been bringing to our community. For him, community is what it is all about.
“It’s a great way of bringing the two worlds together,” he says. On the one hand it will make local music fans more aware of our local hockey team, and as he says, “hockey fans will learn to appreciate that there is a lot of live music and great local talent happening in our town.”
The bottom line for Chris Scerri Presents is always that musicians must be paid and in order to arrange that he went in search of a sponsor. The Meaford Hall & Culture Foundation stepped up.
“Meaford Hall & Culture Foundation are excited to sponsor the singers who will perform the national anthem this season at the Knights Hockey games,” says Joanne McKenzie Director Community Outreach, “supporting our community is what we’re all about.”
“We’re over the moon happy,” says Jason, “We’ve put the Meaford Hall logo on our website. We’re very excited to have them work with us this year.”
There will be a cheque presentation for the sponsorship as part of the opening ceremonies at the game.
This latest innovation is just the latest in community involvement for The Knights of Meaford.
“We have the best sponsorship programs and the best fan base in the league,” says Jason, who travels to away games with the team and notes that other teams don’t enjoy the kind of turnout that Meaford gets at home games.
Combining our local hockey team with our local musical talent is another example of how Meaford is a supportive community for all interests.
“Artists will only be fairly paid when everyone works for free.” Since that’s not happening (yet), I’m glad that Chris Scerri Presents is advocating for musicians.