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ACE to the rescue For Immediate Release Contact: Todd Wallace ACE to the rescue Dutch Harbor air cargo service expands Anchorage, AK– Alaska Aces right wing Mike Scott and defenseman Louis Mass spent their Monday off reading to Dillingham elementary school students and telling older students that education is key to scoring goals in life. The players woke up early after a weekend of nail-biting victories against Long Beach to fly to Dillingham and spend the day with k-12 students. They crammed a lot into the day, from school assemblies to reading books to kindergarteners and first graders, playing pool at the Boys and Girls Club and munching burgers and hot dogs with Dillingham hockey players. ACE air cargo arranged the visit after director of sales Todd Wallace saw a Bristol Bay Times story about the Dillingham Sockeyes, the town’s youth hockey team. The hockey league needed equipment for its players and Wallace hit upon the idea of teaming up with the Alaska Aces to collect some hockey equipment and put on a hockey clinic for the town of 2,400. Dillingham hockey dad Mark Lisac quickly got the schools, Boys and Girls Club and Chamber of Commerce involved and the afternoon hockey clinic grew into a full day of meetings with students to read and talk about goals and the importance of education. Ironically, unseasonably warm weather melted Dillingham’s ice rink so that the original hockey clinic never happened. The Ace’s Dillingham schedule included:
Throughout the day Scott and Mass distributed 500 photo-stickers of the team, plus dozens of pucks, water bottles, t-shirts and other hockey gear to students and the hockey league. They also signed hundreds of autographs and did their best to make sure that everybody involved with the visit had an outstanding time. The only disappointment of the trip was the ice condition. Recent warm weather melted the rink so that it looked more like an Anchorage parking lot than a hockey rink and on-ice drills and demonstrations were impossible. Fortunately, the Chamber of Commerce had plenty of hot dogs and burgers on the grill and the clinic quickly morphed into a picnic that had everybody from young children to seniors enjoying the sunshine and the company of out-of-town celebrities. The visit was sponsored by Anchorage-based ACE air cargo. Director of Sales and Customer Services Todd Wallace, who traveled to Dillingham with the Aces players, said the trip was great for everybody involved. “Louis and Mike got to experience rural Alaska, and Dillingham students heard valuable messages about the importance of education and setting and working toward goals in life. We definitely want to do something like this again,” said Wallace.
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Alaska Aces defenseman Louis Mass and right wing Mike Scott (back row, center) take a break from signing autographs to pose for photos on Monday March 7, 2005 with Dillingham hockey players. The two Aces professional hockey players visited the town that is better known for canned salmon than hockey to talk with students about the importance of reading and getting an education. The trip was sponsored by ACE air cargo. Photo credit: Courtesy of ACE air cargo.
Alaska Aces defenseman Louis Mass clowns around after school at the Dillingham Boys and Girls Club on Monday March 7, 2005. Mass and teammate Mike Scott spent the day in Dillingham talking to students about the importance of reading and getting an education. Photo credit: Courtesy of ACE air cargo.