HAY RIVER - Hay River is planning to give a big sendoff to its residents - including one athlete - attending the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Richard Lafferty, a Hay River fiddler heading to the Vancouver Winter Olympics, said a pep rally will be a good sendoff for him and others from the community. - NNSL file photo

A pep rally will be held on Feb. 1 at the community arena.

Bob White, one of the organizers of the event, said it will be the "show of the year" in Hay River.

White said the community is getting excited about the rally to send the town residents off to Vancouver.

"We feel like it's our Olympics," he said.

All schoolchildren from Hay River and the Hay River Reserve will attend the rally at the arena, White said. "We're going to have it filled to the rafters."

Brendan Green, a member of Canada's biathlon team, will be the most prominent Hay River resident at the Olympics.

Green, who is currently training in Germany, is expected to attend the rally electronically.

His father, Bruce Green, said the rally will help create more excitement in Hay River about the Olympics and celebrate the fact so many residents are going in different capacities.

"I think it's a great idea," he said.

Bruce, who plans to attend the rally, said his son hopes to speak at the event.

"He's always been impressed with the level of support the town has shown and he's happy to do his part," Bruce said.

Also attending the games from Hay River and area are Dene games coach Andy McKay, fiddler Richard Lafferty, traditional artists Cecile Deneyoua and Brendalynn Trennert, volunteer Tracy Cross Gauthier, and youth ambassadors Michelle Daigneault, Colton Yee, Rena Squirrel, Desiree Boulanger-Rowe and Debra Richards of Enterprise.

White said many of them will be at the rally.

Among the highlights of the pep rally will be music, video displays and best wishes offered to the Olympic participants.

Students from the Hay River Reserve's Chief Sunrise Education Centre will sing 'O Canada' in South Slavey, while students from Hay River will sing the national anthem in French and English.

Hay River's Joseph Lirette, who carried the Olympic flame in Inuvik, will also carry the lit torch into the rally.

Lafferty, who is expected to play some tunes at the rally, said it will be a good sendoff.

"I think it's very nice to get everybody together," he said.

White said the initiative for a rally "bubbled up" from the community. "It's just sort of grassroots."