Photo: Shelley Hewitt stands beside a picture of her daughter, Jessica, at a fundraising dinner held at the Fox’N Hounds Pub on Monday, Jan. 13. The shirt Shelley is wearing can be purchased online at jessicahewitt.ca. Jessica is a member of Canada’s short-strack speedskating team, which is heading to Sochi, Russia, for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in February.
They came out of the woodwork at Fox’N Hounds Pub, old friends and new.
Shelley Hewitt needed help to get to Sochi, Russia, for the Olympic Winter Games, so her Ponderosa Lodge co-workers organized a fundraising dinner, held at the local watering hole on Monday, Jan. 13.
“It was amazing because there’s people that, I’ve looked after their husbands who have passed away, there was a teacher that came up to me who taught Jessica in Grade 6 and there was people I don’t work with anymore that I haven’t seen in a while,” said Shelley, whose daughter is expected to skate for Canada’s short-track speedskating team in the 500-metre race, along with the relay, in Sochi.
“And, people that didn’t even know me came up to me and said, ‘We love the Olympics and we’re so excited for you and you must be so proud,’ and they were putting money in my pocket.”
The 150 available tickets for the dinner were snatched up and the final cash-raised tally of more than $2,000 will help Shelley on her way.
“It’s absolutely amazing,” said Shelley, noting some people had to be turned away because the pub was at capacity.
Jessica is given two free tickets per event at the Games, which run from Feb. 7 to Feb. 23. Shelley told her daughter to give the tickets to her boyfriend and his sister.
Shelley is planning to go with her boyfriend, meaning she needs to buy two more tickets for each of the skating events, to go along with a $1,700 or so plane ticket and accommodation costs.
Jessica, who lives and trains in Montreal, will remain in La Belle Province until Jan. 25, when the national speedskating team jets to Budapest, Hungary, to train before heading to Russia.
KTW caught up with the future Olympian — a former member of the Kamloops Long Blades — on Tuesday, Jan. 14.
Jessica thanked the community for backing her — “One of my best friends was at the Fox and she said there were so many people there. It was a great success.” — and the speedster assured residents she is on track to peak at the right time.
“I’m really enjoying training and I don’t think I’ve ever skated as good as I am right now.”
