As a community, the Town of Ponoka is coming together in support of local athlete Maddison Pearman’s journey in the Olympics. Pearman will be competing in speed skating in long-track.

A friend of the family named Sharon Klinger is working with the Town administration to put on a ‘Red and White Day’ on Friday, February 4th. They are encouraging the community to wear red and white in support of the young athlete.  

The event was started by the Ponoka Secondary Campus but Klinger was inspired to put it on community-wide.

“Madison went to school at the Comp and her dad was a teacher there. The Comp started the ‘Red and White Day’.  When we saw that it was like, well if the school can do that, I think the whole community can,” said Klinger. 

A display will be made outside of the Ponoka Elementary School in support of the athlete where people can leave notes of encouragement for her throughout the Olympics.

On Sunday, February 6th, the Klinger family is inviting female athletes to the Ponoka Arena Complex to ‘Skate for Maddison’. It will be a hockey scrimmage from 5:45 PM to 6:45 PM with a $20 player fee that will be going directly to Maddison Pearman.

In addition to the events, Sharon Klinger has partnered with Accu Publishing to help support the athlete and her family a little further by selling decals and posters with Maddison on them. Decals are $20 with $15 being donated back to Pearman and posters are $5 with $4 being donated. 

Photo of the posters and decals made for Maddison Pearman. Photo courtesy of the Accu Publishing's Facebook page. 

Klinger is hoping to support a family that has a long history of supporting sports in the Town of Ponoka. She is hoping to alleviate some of the financial costs of Pearman’s training over the years.

“Her family has been footing the bill for it. That's why I'm kind of stepping in because the family is so amazing and they've done so much with sport in town. They would never ask for any financial support. I have no problem getting on this and getting something for them,” said Klinger.

You can visit Accu Publishing to purchase a decal or poster in support of the family.