Blade Across the Prairies raising funds for Rocanville Rink
Rocanville Rink Fundraising Committee presents Blade Across the Prairies in June
April 27, 2026, 5:18 pm
Ashley Bochek
Twelve volunteers have joined to help the community raise funds for major repairs needed on the Rocanville Rink.
Local volunteer and schoolteacher Dion Campbell will be rollerblading across Saskatchewan starting June 27 to help the committee raise funds in an effort called Blade Across the Prairies.
Chair of Rocanville Rink Fundraising Committee Sam Daku says the community’s rink has many structural issues and is in need of major repairs to continue operating each winter.
“Blade Across the Prairies started with Dion Campbell’s training. He decided that it would be a good way to fundraise for our local rink,” he says.
“This past winter, we’ve really seen the Rocanville Rink deteriorate over the years. Lots of structural things such as the roof flooding and we saw that our rink isn’t going to be any more if we don’t start helping the town to keep it going so we started a fundraising committee and Dion Campbell decided he wants to rollerblade across the whole province of Saskatchewan. He has been training for a while for this and staying very active, so he is going to rollerblade and raise funds at the same time, and we are very thankful.”
Daku explains, “We are a very newly formed committee. It has only been about a month and a half we have been meeting and this is our first fundraiser for it and it is definitely bigger than I expected it to be but we are all very excited. It will definitely spread awareness for us. I know every small town is probably in the same situation with their local rinks and everyone wants to have improvements, but this one is definitely structural for us in the case where we may not even have a rink if something is not done soon.”
Across the province
Daku says Blade Across the Prairies will begin June 27 at the Alberta-Saskatchewan border.
“Dion will start rollerblading Saturday, June 27 at Walsh, Alberta right at the Alberta-Saskatchewan border and then he is going to rollerblade across the province to the Manitoba border. It is about 700 kilometers. Dion is trying to work out how many kilometers he thinks he can do a day and weather permitting—he is hoping about six days to complete it.
She says the committee is planning to have a community-wide celebration at the end.
“We are hoping to have a little barbecue celebration in Moosomin as he rollerblades past to go to the border. We are still in the early planning stages of when that date will be set. We are working with sponsors for the end celebration as well.”
Repairs needed
Daku explains some of the repairs Rocanville Rink needs to continue hosting community events and games each winter.
“The town owns the rink and they will definitely be looking at the structural things like the roof. It needs to be completely replaced—taken-off and a whole new roof put back on—so that is one of the biggest expenses. Since the roof has been leaking it has also gotten into our sound room and I would say it has been compromised it hasn’t been totally destroyed but needs some work.
In the basement there has been some flooding as well due to the structural issues and leaks. We’ve had lots of buckets of water all over the basement, and those are big projects.
“The town will keep the building running as our little group hopes to be able to help with the smaller things. If the town puts all of their money into a roof and there is nothing left we want to be able to help and alleviate the pressure on the town and if our fundraiser becomes huge we would love to help with bigger projects as well.”
She says the rink hasn’t had major upgrades for years. “It has been a long time. We have some members in our committee that were actually around when the building was first brought into town. It was a used building before that the town purchased it and moved it onto the site its on now. It never really was a brand-new building in the first place so there has been lots of repairs over the years, but I’ve been in Rocanville for about 10 years now and there hasn’t been any major upgrades in the last 10 years.”
Local volunteers form committee
The Rocanville Rink Fundraising Committee includes local volunteers and is motivated with support from the whole community.
“Our core committee has 12 people involved who come to our monthly meetings. Then, there are numerous other people that have volunteered to help at any events we put on. The whole town once they realized what condition the rink is in we just started the committee and there has been a lot of people let us know they would support and offer their help if needed. It has been really good that way.
“As the chair of the committee with this fundraiser I am trying to support Dion as best as I can and the committee can as well as get the awareness out there that we really need help for our rink and reaching out to sponsors and communities. We are all here to support Dion and his Blade Across the Prairies idea.”
Core piece of community
Daku says the rink is a place of gathering for the entire community throughout the winter months in Rocanville.
“I would say a rink in smalltown Saskatchewan is a core building. Your children are there, your spouse, your family members, we all gather there. Those cold winter months drag on in Saskatchewan and the rink always has an event on or a place to visit and go during the winter. It is somewhere where anyone can go and have a meal as well. In our small town of Rocanville we have various restaurants, but the rink has opened their kitchen to doing breakfasts, lunches, and suppers so it has been great. The rink is a core piece of the community where everyone makes memories, and it is vital for our kids too, and a place for them to be. It is a healthy environment whether it is hockey or skating lessons, it is very important to the community.”
Blade Across the Prairies on Facebook
The committee has a Facebook page for community members and the public to track Dion throughout his journey June 27.
“We have a Facebook page,” said Daku. “We have set that up with updates for Dion rollerblading, how much money we’ve raised, and what it’s all about. We will have posters and on them, and there is QR code to that Facebook page as well. My vision for the poster will have a blurb why he is rollerblading, why we need to fundraise for our rink, and then we will have e-transfer set up so anyone who wants to e-transfer directly to the fundraising committee can do that and we are hoping to have some collection sites around town to do that as well if anyone is interested in making a cash donation or mail cheques and we will have all that information on the posters and our Facebook page.”
Excited for fundraiser
Daku says the committee is excited for Blade Across the Prairie and hopes to see local communities come together to support Dion rollerblading across the province.
“We are very excited. This being one of our first fundraisers and my first time chairing a board, I am nervous, but very excited to see how it goes and see the community come together. There is no expectations I think it is going to be super fun. It is a different idea—there are so many fundraisers nowadays and this is just something different. We are going to get t-shirts, wristbands, and hats to sell too that will say Blade Across the Prairies and it will be targeting our kids and core groups that use our rink or who have visited our rink such as other local communities and their hockey teams in the area—we visit their rinks and they come to ours.”
Campbell rollerblading across Saskatchewan in Blade Across the Prairies fundraiser
Dion Campbell of Rocanville volunteered to rollerblade across Saskatchewan to help raise funds for his hometown community rink in Blade Across the Prairies.
“I grew up in Rocanville and am a schoolteacher in Rocanville. Our local rink is in major need of repairs and to me it is more than just a building it is the heart of our community. It is where kids learn to skate, families gather, and where a lot of memories are made. It means a lot to me, it’s where my kids skate. It is very important to everybody, and I just want to do what I can from my standpoint to help. I wanted to find a way to bring attention to that and help raise the money to keep it going.”
Sheldon Kennedy offering support
Campbell says Sheldon Kennedy has shared his experience in fundraising and raising awareness for child sexual abuse skating across Canada in 1997.
“I have to give a big shoutout to Sheldon Kennedy who did a blade across Canada in 1997 and actually bladed through Moosomin raising awareness. We all went to Moosomin to cheer him on and then my mom ended up buying us rollerblades and I really enjoy it. I’ve been rollerblading for a long time. I played hockey all over for a very long time in Germany, in the States, and on the East Coast and rollerblading was a big part of our training in the off seasons so I thought this would be a good idea.”
Blade Across the Prairies correlation to local hockey rink
Campbell says rollerblading across Saskatchewan to raise funds for local rink felt like ‘the right fit.’ “I chose an endurance challenge for a couple of different reasons because it definitely reflects the effort it takes to keep small town rinks like this alive. It is not easy and it takes commitment just like maintaining a rink, and I also wanted something that would stand out and get people talking and hopefully inspire them to get involved or donate. It is something totally different and not the norm when it comes to fundraising and it links back to skating. It is a natural extension of what the rink represents. It felt like the right fit for the cause and is something I enjoy, even though this distance will push me a bit.
“I haven’t done anything to this extent. Blade Across the Prairies will be about 700 kilometres. I have done quite a few training sessions that are far, but not this great of a distance.”
He says the rink was a big part of his life at a young age and still is now as an adult.
“I grew up in the rink. Its where I spent a lot of time, learned my skills for hockey, built a lot of friendships, and spent time with friends. It’s where I got my first job at 10 years old shoveling snow, moving nets, cleaning up dressing rooms, and for me and a lot of people in small towns the rink is a second home. This is my way of giving back to something that they gave a lot to me.”
Overwhelming support
Campbell says the committee has already had support from local members and the surrounding area.
“We’ve had a lot of people reach out so far. There are a lot of people that want to get involved in this. It starts June 27 at the Saskatchewan-Alberta border passed Maple Creek by Walsh, Alberta and come east toward Moosomin and to the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border. I can’t give an exact end date because it depends on different elements. There will be live trackers for people to get updates on social media. We do have a vehicle that will potentially be sponsored for us. We have a camper sponsored for us as well with a huge banner that will say Blade Across the Prairies. Local businesses as well as some from Yorkton and Melville are sponsoring this.
“It means everything seeing the support. It just shows people want to get involved in a good cause such as this and most of the time I am hearing, ‘This is wild! I’ve never heard of something like this before!’ and that was a lot of the motivation behind doing an endurance challenge especially rollerblading because it isn’t something you hear a lot about. You might see a cyclist or runner on the highway, but this is something a bit different. It is overwhelming the amount of support. It is getting bigger than I originally anticipated. There is a business in Yorkton that is going to help supply my wheels because I will go through a set a day so it will be a journey. It will be long days. We will start at dawn and end at dusk. There are volunteer drivers that will have shifts as well. Our committee is an amazing little group that is willing to help out in any way they can.”
Physical and mental challenge
Campbell says he has been training the last couple of months on local highways to prep for Blade Across the Prairies.
“I am very excited to do this. I like personal challenge. I am a distance runner and very active in that regard. Training has been going really well. I rollerblade almost every day if the weather allows it. There has been windy days and snow days as of late, but I have been going for a while now since it’s been about -10 out get out on the highway. I got highway 8 and then the mine highway so I’ll usually use those highways, or I’ll get up early Saturday or Sunday mornings to do the Moosomin highway from Rocanville and I just got lucky because these highways were all just paved. I’ve been spoiled.
“I’ve been talking with Sheldon Kennedy about all of this, and he has been a great mentor and has talked to me about his experience in 1997. He has been a huge motivator and someone to talk to about it because he went through it as well to a greater extent.
“The toughest part of this whole thing will be the physical challenge. Seven hundred kilometers will definitely be a long way. The mental side will be just as big as well, but knowing why I am doing this and knowing what the rink means to people and not just in our town, but in all small towns—it is the heart of every community with our long winters—so that will definitely help push me through.”
He says he hopes his journey rollerblading across Saskatchewan will help inspire people to support this initiative and bring people together.
“I hope people take away from all of this is they see just how important community spaces are and feel inspired to help support them. This helps get the repairs that are needed and it’s also going to bring people together and makes it all worth. It is about bringing people together and showing what small towns can do once we rally together.”
If you are interested in donating, sponsoring, and/or getting involved in Blade Across the Prairies in helping raise funds for the Rocanville Community Rink email the Rocanville Rink Fundraising Committee at rocanvillerinkfc@gmail.com
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