RAISE THE RINK EVENT RAISED OVER $25,000

Glens Falls, NY - The Glens Falls Civic Center and Adirondack Thunder announced today that the Raise The Rink event, held last Friday, June 2, raised $25,800 thanks to the generosity of our local community. The money raised pushed the total funds raised for the Keep Hockey Here campaign through donations, events and pledges past the halfway mark of its overall goal.

Raise The Rink had 320 attendees who were treated to an evening of excitement inside Heritage Hall at the Glens Falls Civic Center. The event consisted of a series of live, silent and raffle auctions, with all money raised going towards the Keep Hockey Here fundraiser. The highest selling item on the evening was a quartet of front row tickets to a Boston Red Sox game, combined with dinner for four inside Fenway Park and overnight accommodations just outside of Boston. The winning bid, coming from Dr. John O’Connor, came in at $2,600, more than twice the value of the package.

"The Raise The Rink event was one of the most successful Keep Hockey Here efforts we’ve seen yet,” Adirondack Civic Center Coalition President Dan Burke said. “We are consistently blown away by the support we receive from our local community and are extremely excited to surpass the halfway mark of our donation goal. I’d like to personally thank everyone who came out on Friday and we look forward to continuing our fundraising efforts this summer because this is truly our team.”

Other high ticket items at the event included autographed jerseys of NHL superstars Alex Ovechkin, Henrik Lundqvist and more, with several jerseys receiving bids of greater than $500. A patio furniture set from Telescope Furniture, team signed gear from the Dallas Stars, Toronto Maple Leafs and Los Angeles Kings, as well as several raffle items rounded out the incredible prize selection.

“We’re extremely thankful to everyone in our community that supported us by donating and collecting raffle prizes for our event,” Glens Falls Civic Center General Manager Jeff Mead said. “Special thanks goes out to Dave Strader, who secured us many of our NHL jerseys, Rob and Lindsay Merrill, who provided us with the Boston Red Sox package and Marc Monahan, who chaired our event committee.”

The coalition launched the Keep Hockey Here fundraising campaign on February 28, the date it agreed to purchase the Adirondack Thunder from Calgary Sports & Entertainment. The campaign is designed to solicit the additional funds necessary for a successful team ownership and the coalition has set a $1 million campaign goal, including contributions from coalition members. Fans can make an online donation to help “Keep Hockey Here” by visiting glensfallscc.com and clicking the support button.

The Adirondack Civic Center Coalition is a nonprofit group of local business and community volunteer leaders who manage the Glens Falls Civic Center. In April 2015, the coalition entered into a lease-purchase agreement with the city of Glens Falls to take control of the building. The coalition aims to preserve the Civic Center as a premier venue for sports and entertainment in the Adirondack region.

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Adirondack Thunder Hockey - This Is Our Team