Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds dropped by a virtual Community Services meeting held by the Town of Cobourg last week to urge the town to rename its Pond Arena after the late Grace Bowen. The nine-year-old girl fought a battle with osteosarcoma for more than a year before she tragically passed more than a decade ago on March 13, 2015.
Throughout Bowen’s lifetime, local fundraisers were held for her, as she spent a large part of her life at Toronto’s Hospital for Sick Children.
“She changed my life, really,” Reynolds said at Wednesday’s committee meeting. “I met Grace backstage with Haley Wickenheiser. I was just really taken by Grace. Her name kind of said it all. Grace at some point came up and gave me a hug or something … I forget exactly what it was … but I just remember looking at this little girl who’s going through so much.”
“She went through so much and yet she had this sort of sense of calm and the sense of well-being, and just from the moment I met her that night I said, ‘I’m never, as long as I live, if I have a free moment for any kid who’s carrying a bag of rocks around like that — or their parents — I will make time for them.’”
As for the Pond Arena, the Vancouver-born actor called it “Grace’s temple.”
“That was her church, her everything. Hockey was her life … would be pretty beautiful if we were able to rename the arena the Grace Bowen Arena, or the Grace Bowen Memorial Arena.”
Thankfully, the committee voted unanimously to support renaming the Pond Arena, and the issue will go before council on April 30.
Meanwhile, the Town of Cobourg announced that it has joined forces with the West Northumberland Girls Hockey Association (WNGHA) and the Bowen family to celebrate 150 Years of The Hospital for Sick Children. Until Sunday, April 13, the town is hosting one of 150 SickKids’ 150th Birthday Balloon Sculptures at the Cobourg Community Centre.
“The stunning sculpture represents the power of community and the incredible work being done every day at SickKids,” the town said a press release earlier this month. “Together, the Town of Cobourg and WNGHA are helping SickKids fight for more birthdays over the next 150 years and beyond.”
