Around 170 people hit the stands to watch a large group of County of Brant volunteer firefighters duke it out on the ice in support of Stedman Community Hospice on Sunday, March 29, 2026.
The friendly faceoff featured Paris Fire Station #1 going head-to-head with Airport Fire Station #2, whose team included firefighters from across the County including Burford #3, Cainsville #4, Onondaga #6, St. George #7, and Scotland #8.
Shelby McDonald, a volunteer firefighter with Station #2 and one of the co-organizers of the event, said this was the second time the fundraising game has been put on. Proceeds from last year’s match went to supporting Community Living Brant.
“This is our second annual fundraising game and this year we’ve picked Stedman as the recipient,” she said. “We wanted to give back to the community in a positive way and Stedman is something that’s close to a lot of our players and families so it was a good fit. Last year the proceeds went to Community Living, and so from now, each year we do this we’ll be picking a new place to donate to.”
When asked how everyone felt about putting on an event for a good cause and welcoming the community to join in, McDonald said it was something they were happy to do.
“It’s so great because we always love to give back, and there’s just such a positive aspect to it. With what we do as firefighters, we often see a lot of devastation – people losing their belongings or their loved ones – so it’s just nice to be able to give back like this. We also do other events where we collect donations for the community, but this is probably our biggest one. It’s just a fun way to have the guys come out and play, have some fun competition and raise money for a good cause while doing it.”
While last year’s game was free to attend, McDonald said this year they chose to charge admission, $5 for adults and $2 for children under 12, to raise as much money for Stedman as possible. Attendees also had the chance to enter a draw to win a signed hockey stick from Zac Dalpe, a retired NHL player and younger brother of Paris firefighter and team captain Phil Dalpe.
With friends, family and community members gathered in their seats, cheering on their favourite players and showing off their homemade signs, the game soon got underway after the playing of the national anthem.
While the Paris team played with the determination to bounce back after last year’s 7-4 loss, the Airport team ultimately managed to take home another win, finishing the game 6-2.
Despite the loss, the players were all smiles especially given that McDonald announced they had raised $1,548. She confirmed the following day that the final total was $2,152, 100 per cent of which will go towards supporting Stedman Community Hospice.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
