It’s officially happening. A groundbreaking ceremony was held at Walsh Field today, marking the start of a project that will see it decked out with new turf, a new running track, stands and more.
The legwork to get the project in motion has been going on for a year and a half now. The MD of Bonnyville is providing 240,000 dollars in funding, but more than two million dollars was donated anonymously by a private citizen. That donor was revealed to be Ray Scott of Fort Kent, who provided a few brief remarks at the ceremony.
“I’m glad I can help and make this dream a reality; maybe make this town big all around Canada I guess,” he said before heading back to the stands. Described as a man of few words by Bonnyville Bandits coach Micky Fangan -who acted as MC for the event – Scott’s speech lasted 35 seconds, the first half of which was drowned out by a low flying drone overhead and technical issues with the microphone.
Also present were Mayor Gene Sobolewski and council, Reeve Ed Rondeau and MD council, MLA Scott Cyr, Walsh Field’s namesake Brian Walsh, representatives from the Lakeland Catholic School District and FieldTurf representative for Western Canada Kevin Pipe.
The hope is that players will be on the new field sometime in early to mid-August.
