Image credit: CFJC Today/Marty Hastings

By Marty Hastings

HONOUR HOUSE

Storm get to work at Honour Ranch during team-building event

Sep 8, 2025 | 4:47 PM

KAMLOOPS — Honour Ranch assistant manager and maintenance co-ordinator Dan Wadge paused during an interview to look around and appreciate progress made by the Kamloops Storm.

“We’re very appreciative because it’s a lot of work,” Wadge said. “When you start getting 25, 26 people out here painting, it goes by very fast compared to one or two volunteers working on their own. It would take them years to get the same amount of work done.”

The Honour Ranch is an Honour House Society facility near Ashcroft, a retreat space at which Canadian Armed Forces, veterans, emergency services personnel and their family members can receive treatment for operational stress injuries, including anxiety, depression and PTSD.

This year, the Storm’s annual First Responders Night will be a fundraiser for the Honour Ranch, which relies on donations to meet operating costs and provide access to programming.

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Fencing and railings at the rural ranch were in need of staining, so the Storm popped by with brushes and buckets on Sunday morning.

“Usually, we do stuff like go to the police department or the fire station and we look at what they have going on,” Storm forward Luca D’Amore said. “But one special thing about this is that we get to give back more this time instead of kind of just taking a look.”

For the Storm, who experienced significant roster turnover during the summer, pre-season team-building is imperative ahead of the 2025-2026 Kootenay International Junior Hockey League campaign.

Head coach Andrew Fisher – a Kamloops firefighter – said the work project was a productive method of team bonding, noting players learned about what the Honour House does for first responders and made a tangible mark on the ranch.

“You get here and things look one way and by the time we’re gone this afternoon, it’ll be brightened up and the guys will be able to look at that and say, ‘Yeah, that’s what we did and we did that together as a group,’” Fisher said.

“You want to establish that culture of service and giving back, and also service to one another.”

First Responders Night is scheduled for Oct. 11, when the 100 Mile House Wranglers come to town for a 7:00 p.m. start at McArthur Island Sport and Event Centre.

“I think it’s important to recognize the people who keep us safe,” Storm general manager Matt Kolle said. “There’s the team-building component, our guys are getting closer and they know they’re doing a good thing.”