Mars shares sweet surprise with island hockey players, fans

Thanks to Mars Canada Inc. and Hockey Canada, a heated mezzanine is being constructed in the Grand Manan Community Centre ice rink and will be featured in a new television commercial.
"The building is in process," reports Megan Johnson, senior consultant for the candy company. "The Mars brand team will be filming a new commercial in November that will profile the Grand Manan community coming together with a little help from the makers of Mars to complete the mezzanine renovation and reveal the final build."
She says Hockey Canada was responsible for identifying small communities across the country that not only exemplified passion for their community and for the sport of hockey, but that had a hockey-related community project that needed assistance to be completed.
"The Mars brand team then spent a great deal of time learning about each individual community and their proposed initiative and was responsible for choosing the local hockey [project] based on the passion, hard work and positive spirit exemplified by the community," explains Johnson. "We were interested in a big project that would make the hockey experience more enjoyable, and a heated mezzanine was on Grand Manan's wish list. It's very, very cold in the rink, so it's difficult to watch the hockey games."
After officially opening in January of this year, the Grand Manan Community Centre ice rink saw an average of 1,500 visits per week by people who enjoyed skating there.
"The decision was a very difficult one to make, but the story of Grand Manan's local heroes and its passion for the game is one that the Mars brand team was very excited to share," noted Johnson.
The completed mezzanine will be 1,600 square feet, and the amount of seating will be determined by the New Brunswick Fire Marshal's Office.
"The people from Mars have been coming and going since June, and there's been time-lapse photography going on," reports Rob MacPherson, chief administrative officer of the Village of Grand Manan. "It's really come together and, in the vernacular of the day, looks 'awesome' in the arena. The painting is done, and the windows are about to be installed. By Friday [October 28], the ice plant is going to be on."
MacPherson says about 150 people, including skaters and fishermen, turned up for the first casting call by Mars Canada for the commercial. "That's a pretty good turnout. I think the whole island is behind the project."
The commercial will be shot in mid-November and will air in early 2012.