INNISFAIL -- The town's beloved hockey Birds are being honoured at this year's Innisfail Rotary Pro-Rodeo Parade.
The senior men's Innisfail Eagles hockey team has been selected by the Rotary Club of Innisfail to be the parade marshall for the annual event, which is being held this year on Saturday, June 15.
The choice is a salute to the team's thrilling Allan Cup run in April, the first time the team has ever made it to the national championship, which was held in Lacombe. The Eagles ultimately lost in the final game to the Lacombe Generals but won the hearts of hockey fans everywhere.
"It is always good. I am proud to be part of what is going on there, build what we did and coming within one shot from winning a national championship is pretty special," said Brian Sutter, the Eagles' head coach. "It is neat to be part of Innisfail. The people make the town. I said that about St. Louis and I will say that about Innisfail."
Clarence Stewart, Rotary's rodeo parade organizer, said the choice of the entire team was made by the service club because of the squad's outstanding accomplishment last season. He added that while it may seem unusual for the parade to pick an entire team, Rotary has chosen more than one person in the past to be parade marshall.
"We have picked families before. It was hard to pick one person, and actually when I talked to them (Eagles) they said just the whole team," said Stewart.
As for the parade itself, it starts moving at 10:30 a.m. at the intersection of 49th Street and 51st Avenue and will move north to 50th Street where it will head east and then south on 50th Avenue. The parade will then turn west on 40th Street and then north on 52nd Avenue and will end at the intersection of 52nd Avenue and 42nd Street.
In the event of an emergency the Town of Innisfail has an emergency response plan to handle any situation, said Janice Jones, the town's marketing and administration coordinator. Jones said Town of Innisfail staff will also ensure all roads are ready for the parade, as well as all required signage and barricades. Town operations staff will also man the intersections of the parade route.
For any citizen, organization or business wanting to register a float for the parade they can visit the town's website at www.innisfail.ca/parade
For more information on this year's Innisfail Rotary Pro-Rodeo Parade contact Jones by email at [email protected]
