Hay River’s Arctic Winter Games bid needs you tonight

The South Slave’s 2018 Arctic Winter Games bid team will hold what could be a vital “pep rally” in Hay River on Thursday night.

The Arctic Winter Games is sending its site selection committee – the people who will decide which bid to pick – to Hay River, to inspect the South Slave’s plans to host the Games in three years’ time.

The committee must choose between the joint bid from Hay River and Fort Smith or a rival bid from Inuvik.

Committee members will be introduced to the community at the Don Stewart Arena from 5.30pm on Thursday.

Donna Lee Jungkind, Hay River’s deputy mayor and marketing leader for the South Slave bid, says that event could make all the difference to the South Slave’s bid.

“It’s huge. It’s very exciting for the South Slave to be able to show off what we have here, absolutely,” Jungkind told Moose FM.

“This is their one and only visit.

“We need to see as many people as possible show up to our pep rally, so we can show the bid selection committee what our communities are all about. We need to show the spirit of the South Slave.”

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The Arctic Winter Games are held every two years, with the next edition set for Nuuk, in Greenland, in 2016.

The Games were last held in the Northwest Territories seven years ago, in Yellowknife, and haven’t visited Hay River since 1978.

“What we really want to get across is how excited we are that we have an opportunity to put our bid forward, and show them that we really want this in our community,” added Jungkind.

“All around, it’s an opportunity to showcase – on a world stage – what the South Slave communities can do when we pull together.”