Worcester IceCats game benefits Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial
December 7, 2004
Contact:
Link McKie
+1-617-373-8324
+1-617-373-8773 (fax)
l.mckie@neu.edu
WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Worcester IceCats will auction off special W6 hockey jerseys worn by their players at the team’s game Saturday, Dec. 11, against the Providence Bruins, to benefit Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Park.
The first 500 fans at the game will be given key chains commemorating the six fallen firefighters whose bravery will be honored with Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Park.
The IceCats, in partnership with the Worcester Firefighters Memorial Committee, will auction off the commemorative W6 jerseys during the first intermission of the Dec. 11 game, which begins at 7:05 p.m. in the DCU Center (formerly the Centrum).
Another W6 IceCats jersey, autographed by Worcester’s own Denis Leary and former Boston Bruins’ star Cam Neely, will be raffled off at the game. All proceeds will benefit Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Park.
The IceCats will be wearing the special W6 jerseys for the second and last time. IceCats players first wore the W6 jerseys at their game Friday night, Dec. 3, against the Hershey Bears, in memory of the fifth anniversary of the fire Dec. 3, 1999, at the Worcester Cold Storage and Warehouse Co. building that claimed the lives of the six fallen heroes.
The W6 jersey replaces the IceCats’ usual teal and blue with a red-based sweater trimmed in blue. Their Scratch crest is replaced by a silver W6 emblem honoring the six fallen firefighters.
The Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Committee is hosting a booth, courtesy of the IceCats, at the DCU Center. On display will be a scale model of the design by Gala Simon Associates Inc. of Watertown for Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Park.
The memorial committee will have Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Park T-shirts and coins commemorating the six firefighters on sale at the booth. Proceeds go to the memorial park.
Memorial park T-shirts also will be given away to fans between periods, along with IceCats T-shirts.
A Fire Department truck will be on display on the plaza outside the DCU Center’s main entrance.
The Fire Department bagpipers and honor guard units will be featured guests for the game’s opening ceremonies. Fire Capt. Kevin Maloney will sing the national anthem. Members of the six firefighters’ families have been invited to perform the game’s ceremonial puck dropping.
The memorial committee, which includes relatives of two of the six fallen firefighters, is creating the memorial park at a site off Grove Street on Salisbury Pond near Fire Department headquarters and Institute Park. The committee has formally named the site “Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Park 5-1438, December 3, 1999.” The numbers represent the fire’s five alarms and the Fire Department code for the location of the fire.
The six men -- Firefighters Paul A. Brotherton, Timothy P. Jackson, Jeremiah M. Lucey, James F. “Jay” Lyons III, Joseph T. McGuirk, and Lt. Thomas E. Spencer -- died during rescue operations in the building, located off Route 290 near downtown Worcester. Their deaths marked the worst loss of firefighters’ lives in more than 20 years in a building fire in America, and the third worst fire in Massachusetts’ history.
Members of the Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial Committee and the families of the six fallen firefighters have been invited to attend the Dec. 11 IceCats’ tribute.
Tickets for the game are on sale now at all Ticketmaster outlets, including the box office at the DCU Center. More information can be obtained by contacting the IceCats at 800-830-CATS.
Donations to the memorial can be made to Worcester Fire Fighters Memorial, 34 Glennie Street, Worcester, Mass. 01605.
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Last modified: Dec 08, 2004, 09:32 EST