By Darren Lum

Some will wear goofy costumes complete with outrageous wigsothers will play in matching hockey jerseys or everyday clothes but one thing all of the hundreds of participants will share is a love ofoutdoor hockey.

The Canadian National Pond Hockey Championships – afour-on-four 30-minute game format tournament – draws people from allover the province and a few from outside the country to play hockeyover two days.

Depending on the division players will play from Jan. 24 to 25 or the following weekend on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.

Organizer John Teljeur welcomes the public to see the eventthat combines the spirit of Halloween and the athleticism of outdoorhockey set against the Highlands winter backdrop.

He said he’s learned a lot about the community after running the event for four years.

“We have an amazing community that shows up every year to help. I’ve talked to so many of them and the feedback is they have fun andenjoy meeting new people. Anyone that has played or volunteered in theevent will tell you that the experience is really amazing. They reallylike the event and what it does for our community. Over 92 per cent ofthe teams come from outside of our community which helps fill up roomsat the Pinestone Haliburton Heights and other facilities” he wrote inan email.

Teljeur’s knowledge of ice has expanded greatly since assuming control of the event.

Although the pond in front of the Pinestone is smaller than other venues the ice can be “tricky to maintain.”

According to Teljeur an average of five million cubic feet ofsnow is moved and nearly 70000 litres of water is pumped to prepare the 500000-square-foot area for 18 rinks thanks to volunteers and$100000-worth of machinery. There must be a minimum of 12 inches of ice before ice preparation. The ice building process and the event can beseen on HalibooTV which provides constant footage via its livestreaming cameras.

Teljeur said there was great risk in taking over the championships in 2017.

In 2016 he learned the past event owner was looking to sell.Teljeur took over the ownership following a discussion with his wifeabout how depressing it would be if the event were not in Haliburton.

“That’s when we decided to just take the risk and buy itourselves. The first year was very stressful. We had never operated thefull event on the Pinestone ice surface and weren’t entirely sure wecould. It is also a very every expensive event to run costing upwards of $60000 annually. Thanks to the support of some amazing people in thecommunity who jumped in and volunteered their time we were able to make it work and we have never looked back” he said.

Teljeur thanks the volunteers and the event sponsors includingBudweiser Gibson’s Finest Canadian Whisky Ventrac Compact TractorsBattlefield Equipment Rentals Baffin Clothing Viper Marketing Amazing Agency and Budget Propane.

New for this year is a 40-foot inflatable igloo tent which will provide an outdoor food and beverage option.

There will be live entertainment each night. The Baz Littlerock Band performs on Jan. 24 and then the next night Neon Nostalgicwhich covers classic ‘80s and ‘90s in front of the original musicians’videos. Rude E Bones performs on Jan. 31 and then Haliburton’s Arden and the Tourists perform on Feb. 1.

Admission is $15 in advance and $20 atthe door. Volunteers and players are free.

The Pondimonium Division which focuses on recreation andoffers no playoff round is returning. The idea for the division camefrom player feedback.

“They just wanted to play and not worry about the score. Mydaughter Sarah came with the name and the rest is history” Teljeursaid.

Despite the time and energy Teljeur said he hasn’t forgottenwhat is at the root of the event’s success and what it means for thePinestone and the community.

“The hours are very long – sometimes back-to-back-to-back18-hour days but I’m surrounded by great volunteers and Pinestone teammembers who are there every step of the way to make the event a success. To see it all come together after months of planning is awesome” hesaid. “I’m especially driven by what the event does for the resort andarea. The brand is well known so it is an achievement for the communityto host one of the largest pond hockey events in the world successfullyevery year. The event also helps fill up the resort on two weekends that can be hit and miss for anything else. The four days of pond hockeyaccounts for nearly 10 per cent of [Pinestone restaurant] Stone 21’sannual revenues.”

See canadapondhockey.ca for information on the event.