When one hears the word Classic, what comes to mind may not be something precise, as it is a well used colloquialism in some circles, ie. Jimmy's hair is classic! What may be considered tangibly classic is also imprecise: a vintage hockey game, an old movie, a popular catch phrase, the original Black Sabbath album.
So when the family and I attended an event dubbed the Christmas Classic at the arena at the Castlegar Community Complex on December 23rd, none of us knew what kind of classic to expect. Not me, not the two-year-old who at that moment added the word classic to her expanding vocabulary. The poster said the event was an 11th annual charity hockey game, preceded by an old-timers hockey game, and followed by a Classic Dance, all put on by something called the Classic Foundation.
Did we find out what it was all about? Sort of. I think.
Luckily we happened to sit by the knowledgeable and gregarious Jinjo of the Dam City Rollers roller derby team. Gotta love small towns. Jinjo shared that the Castlegar Christmas Classic is a charity hockey game featuring former hockey playing residents with ties to the local area. She shared that the dance that followed has quickly become a community go-to holiday event, all the funds raised went to the local food bank, and sometimes, celebrities showed up to play. And, in fact, a celebrity was playing in this game, and singing the anthem; Shawn Hook, a world-famous crooner and heart-throb wearing number 67, wooed and wowed the full arena with both his voice and surprising skills on skates.
As I sat, wishing I'd worn thicker socks, I still couldn't quite figure out what I was watching, or why I was watching it. It wasn't pro hockey, it wasn't a hilarious Harlem Crown's style hockey jam, and it wasn't for all the marbles, just one marble, namely a marble of pride for the winning side. I was wishing I'd known the players, their reason for playing, how they got there and what the story was. I was wishing I felt involved.
And then I stopped wishing and just watched. And looked. And listened.
It was a Friday Night Lights high school football game in El Paso, Texas, a rodeo at Writing-on-Stone in Southern Alberta. It was a hardcore punk show in New York, it was a waffle in Brussels. It was Shawn Hook singing the Canadian anthem in his home town before playing in front of friends and family. It was local boys in a small Canadian town playing the national sport in a charity game. And they played because they love to. And if you're a person who is fond of authenticity and genuinely gracious human spirit...this was a Classic.
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