Rogers Hometown Hockey officially starts Saturday in Chatham-Kent, but there are several activities kicking things off already Friday.
The fun starts with a special assembly at St. Vincent Catholic School on McNaughton Line in Chatham, with appearances by local former NHL hockey great Jeff Jackson, Team Canada Olympic Sledge Hockey team member Ashley Goure, and a special message from former St. Vincent student and current Calgary Flames defenceman T.J. Brodie.
The festivities continue Friday night with a special puck drop at the Ken Houston Memorial Agricultural Centre as the Dresden Kings host the Blenheim Blades at 7:30 p.m. Rogers Hometown Hockey hosts Tara Slone and Ron MacLean will be on hand for that along with members of the Houston Family.
Slone, who will be visiting Chatham-Kent for the first time, said she's looking forward to learning more about the area from local residents.
"We meet so many fantastic people and people are really forthcoming with their stories," said Slone. "I think what means the most to us is that they not just tell us their stories, but they trust us to tell them to the rest of the country."
Chatham-Kent is the 11th stop on this year's tour and the 108th stop overall for the Hometown Hockey, which is in its fifth season.
"It's incredible, obviously people have also known who Ron is and love him, but I do think that people have become aware of the show and in fact very fond of the show," said Slone. "It's a very unique reception we get and I don't take it for granted for a second."
Friday's activities at the arena in Dresden also include a special event called "A Pocketful of Memories" hosted by college professor and keynote speaker John Weese starting at 10 p.m.
Those events will be followed up on Saturday by 14 hours of hockey-related events in Dresden with a special unveiling ceremony taking place at 12 p.m. to commemorate the official re-naming of the Ken Houston Memorial Agricultural Centre.
You can find more details on the full schedule for events by clicking here for Friday and clicking here for Saturday.
At the same time those events are going on in Dresden, Hometown Hockey schedule will kick off in downtown Chatham at 12 p.m. Saturday.
