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Community shows outpouring of support for future ice arena

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POLSON — The Mission Valley Ice Arena recently held a fundraiser in their ongoing efforts to complete the final push towards starting construction. 

Held in Polson’s Glacier Brewery, board member Hilary Lozar said the event was standing room only. “It went incredibly well. We were super pleased with the attendance,” Lozar commented. 

With live music from the ShamRockers and auction items from around 20 private and business donors, the community turned up in mass to support the ice arena project. “Anyone that we approached seemed so excited to give us something. No one turned us down. We had an incredible amount of support from the local businesses, which was wonderful to see,” Lozar explained. 

Lozar also shared that the owner of Glacier Brewery said they typically aim for 160 to 175 pints of beer sold at events like this, with a dollar per beer donated to the organization being hosted. The fundraiser for the Mission Valley Ice Arena blew that out of the water with 220 pints sold. 

“I was blown away. All our board members were just speechless when we saw how many people showed up and how many people were bidding on the silent auction items, it was amazing,” Lozar said. “The energy was so positive. Our main takeaway was not just the money but the thought that the town and the local valley obviously are endorsing our product with their enthusiasm.”

The Mission Valley Ice Arena Association recently acquired the deed to their lot and are currently working on a parking agreement with the Soccer Association building. Located near where the ice arena will be built, the agreement will ensure enough parking is available for patrons and create a kind of sports complex in that area of town. Once the proposal is agreed upon, the association will start the permitting process with the city and continue their fundraising efforts for the last million dollars needed to get construction underway. 

While another fundraising event will be planned for the summer, those interested in supporting the Mission Valley Ice Arena can donate either by sending a check to PO Box 333 in Polson, or by going online to: missionvalleyicearena.com and clicking the donate button. The association also has ongoing raffles at Glacier Brewery on Wednesday evenings for a Yeti cooler and mixed Montana beers. 

“The amount of support we’ve had in the local area has been phenomenal, just extremely exciting,” Lozar stated. “I feel like it really does give us that stamp of approval from the community for us to move forward … we felt like we’d always been supported, but this was a next level. This was amazing.”

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