The Clive Arena is in major need of funding and volunteers in order to continue operations in the community. The arena is currently owned by the Clive Athletic and Agricultural Society who are looking for help to keep the arena running. The society will be hosting an Annual General Meeting tomorrow (January 18) and they are looking for a full house.    

“We've come to the point where we have to do something to make our arena last longer to get a new ice plant. But to do that, we need a really strong volunteer base and people that are willing to step up to help us with the process, fundraise, and modernize our facility,” said Lori Oatway, Secretary of the Clive Athletic and Ag Society.  

The arena is very well utilized by the community by organizations such as minor hockey, men’s hockey, and figure skating. It is also used by surrounding communities in search of ice time. 

“In addition to that, we rent outside ice to Lacombe groups, Red Deer groups, we even have ringette coming in from Edmonton and Calgary occasionally. Then, we host tournaments and it always seems like it's full,” explained Oatway.  

The Village of Clive provides a small portion of funding for the arena’s operations, but the major operational costs are typically covered by the County of Lacombe and Alberta Ag Societies.  

“[The Lacombe County] gives us a very generous grants that come through every year. We also get a fairly large grant from the Ag Societies of Alberta. Those two grants are the major ones. The Village of Clive does give us some money that helps us operate for sure but when you're looking at power bills that could be up to $10,000 a month in utility bills, it doesn't take long for us to run out of money,” she said.  

The repair of the arena’s current ice plant time and time again has already cost the society thousands of dollars but the cost for a new ice plant has been estimated at $1.2 million dollars. Renovations to the arena would also be a welcome addition to plans but Oatway says the main priority at this point is to ensure there is still ice for local athletes to skate on. 

Currently, there are nine people on the arena’s board and they are looking to fill three positions as well as gain some dedicated volunteers who are willing to help fundraise for a new ice plant to keep the arena operating.  

“We have three positions that are up for renewal this year and included in those is the secretary's position, and the Treasurer's position as well. We're hoping to fill those two positions, but we're also looking for anybody that might just want to sit on the board or become an AG Society member that could sit on a fundraising board, or an event board, or something like that,” said Oatway.  

The Clive Athletic and Agriculture Society are hoping to see a full house of people at their AGM. At the meeting, Oatway says financial statements will be available to look over.  

“If anybody's curious to see why we're asking for more support, it's pretty common knowledge once you've seen our financial statement. Then we get reports from all of our directors, so you'll hear from our President, our Treasurer, our Secretary, and then we'll do an election to fill those empty positions,” she added.  

Oatway says it’s been challenging to find new volunteers in the community and hopes to attract a new crowd and new ideas to revitalize the old arena.  

“I interact with a lot of community boards and Ag societies and it seems like a lot of them are really hurting for volunteers. The ones that are currently taking on a lot of the responsibilities have been doing it for a while. We don't see a lot of new members coming in, so it would be great if people could come and see what we're all about, and maybe it would be a really good fit. It's a great feeling to help your community, and I just wish there'd be a few more people that we're interested in coming out, getting active, and being part of the community,” she added.  

The Clive Athletic and Ag Society AGM will be hosted on Wednesday, January 18 at 7:00PM at the arena meeting room at the Clive Arena.