Even if Avonlea doesn’t become Riderville, Mayor Alex Getzlaf said the small Moose Jaw-area community is benefitting from its efforts.
“It’s a great contest win or lose. It’s really brought the community together,” he told the Times-Herald on Tuesday. During the Roughriders weekend game against the Edmonton Eskimos, the Village of Avonlea was announced as one of the five finalists for the Riderville competition.
Getzlaf said he actually found out Avonlea made the finalist list a few days before the weekend game. He said making that list made him feel really good about his community’s efforts to win the Riderville title.
“We were really pumped.”
In an effort to make the small community of approximately 450 people a viable contestant for this honour (to be announced during Labour Day weekend football match), Getzlaf said a core committee of 14, as well as several volunteers, has turned the village into a green testament to Rider Pride.
“When you come through Avonlea, you know it.”
Getzlaf estimates 60-65 per cent community participation, with houses, businesses and campsites adorned with Roughrider paraphernalia.
For more on this story, read an upcoming edition of the Times-Herald.
