Members of the City of Humboldt and the Humboldt Broncos were in attendance during the Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame Induction Gala in Swift Current on July 7.
An anonymous donation was made on behalf of the Humboldt Broncos and the Swift Current Broncos in the form of Wall of Fame fundraising bricks. In total, the donor purchased 20 bricks to honour the 16 people lost in the April 6 Humboldt Broncos bus crash and four for those lost in the 1986 Swift Current Broncos bus crash.
The Saskatchewan Hockey Hall of Fame is located in the Swift Current Arena, and organizers wanted to make sure the Humboldt community had something for their community, says city manager Joe Day, which is why they also created a replica plaque for Humboldt.
Swift Current and Humboldt now share an unfortunate connection since both communities have lost members of the hockey community through bus crashes.
When the crash first occurred, Day says they had a lot of help from people from Swift Current, including former 1986-1987 Swift Current players like Sheldon Kennedy who spent time with victims and their families after the crash.
That is where the thanks should go, says Day.
“We got some advice and some help in the first few weeks from some of those who were involved in the crash down in Swift Current. Members of their community reached out to offer some assistance however they could as well.”
The gifted replica will eventually hang in the Humboldt and District Gallery, which is currently the site of much of the collection of gifts received after the Humboldt Broncos crash.
The outpouring of support after the crash was overwhelming with the Elgar Petersen Arena ice surface becoming a memorial site after the crash. After the ice surface was removed, people from within Humboldt and visitors to the community wanted a place to go to view the many items.
Council chose the gallery as an appropriate location.
“We wanted a safe place for people to go where they could choose to visit if they wanted to but it wasn’t necessarily out in the public everywhere where you couldn’t avoid it,” says Day.
Given that the Gallery is a small space, items will be rotated in and out of the display until the end of the year.
