Updated at 4:05 p.m.:
Seaforth and Goderich will be honouring local hockey hero Ryan O'Reilly later this month.
O'Reilly and the St. Louis Blues won the Stanley Cup this year and O'Reilly won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs.
The Seaforth parade will start at 9:30 in the morning on Thursday, July 25th - come down the main street to the arena, where O'Reilly will be available for pictures for up to an hour and a half.
The parade in Goderich will start shortly after 1:00 that same afternoon - leaving the town hall, going around the Square and back to the town hall and then out to the YMCA for pictures.
O'Reilly only has a limited time with the Stanley Cup but there will be opportunities for people to talk with him and take pictures.
Below is a letter from Snook O'Reilly sharing his thoughts on the upcoming celebration.
THANK YOU HURON COUNTY I would like to formally thank the community of Huron County for the ongoing love and support you have shown me throughout my entire career as well as specifically throughout this year’s exciting playoff run.
Huron County will always be home to me. From the calming open spaces to the warm greetings everyone gives one another around town, this is a place that I always come back to relax and reconnect with myself, friends and family. There are so many people who have supported me on my journey to winning the Stanley Cup. I could not have attained the ultimate hockey goal without all of you.
Starting with the Seaforth Stars and the Huron Perth Lakers, both fantastic organizations that helped me grow as a competitive player. I would like to thank all of my sponsors that made playing hockey with the Huron Perth Lakers possible. Your generosity has impacted my life drastically. I would like to thank all of the coaches I’ve had over the 25 years I’ve been playing hockey. Every single one of you taught me something I was able to use in my development. I would also like to thank all of my teammates over the years and their parents who helped drive me to practices and games when my parents were busy with my siblings.
To the staff at Seaforth Arena (Graham, Kevin, Skinny, Todd, Doug, John & others), thank you for the countless times you let me come in and skate when the ice wasn’t being used. I fell in love with the game of hockey there and your kindness made the world of a difference. You were never obliged to let me skate there but you always did and I am forever grateful.
To my family, thank you for the time and money you put into traveling for my practices and games or even just taking me to the gym. You are selfless and generous and I can’t thank you enough. I hope that I can provide the same opportunity for my kids as they grow.
To my amazing grandmother Deirdre O’Reilly, I can still remember you buying me brand new skates because my other ones were falling apart. Thank you so much for being my biggest supporter and always having my back. To My late grandparents, Rose & Maurice Bowler, & John Austin, born in Ashfield who would be so proud that one of their own brought the Stanley Cup back to the County. Who would have thought that my late grandpa Maurice Bowler, who I never met, would impact me by planting the seeds of hockey while playing in the Lucknow arena many years ago?
To the schools I grew up in, St. James and St. Anne’s. I have so many great memories from both of your schools. I made some amazing friendships during my time there as well. Your teachers were always so patient with me and supported me so much throughout my time there. I still get a smile on my face every time I drive by.
And lastly, to the staff at the Goderich YMCA, thank you for providing me with a place to train and push myself. You’ve always been so accommodating with our family to make sure we had everything we needed to train over the years.
There are still so many people I haven’t gotten a chance to thank, but I looking forward to being able to celebrate with you all. I’m excited to announce that on Thursday, July 25th I will have the Stanley Cup with me to celebrate with all of you. Our day will start with a parade at 9:30 am in Seaforth (Seaforth Fire Department) from there, we will make our way to the Seaforth arena where I will be taking pictures until 11:30 am.
Following this we will make our way to Goderich for another parade starting at 1:00 pm and ending at the Goderich YMCA where I will be taking pictures until 3:30 pm.
To make this day run as smoothly as possible and to hopefully share this experience with as many of you as we can, I will only be doing pictures and no signings on this day.
I do not get the cup for very long and this will help ensure that everyone will have time to get a picture with the cup. I will return later this summer and would be happy to sign anything for you at that point, but I kindly ask that you wait until then.
I still can’t believe the outcome of this year and want to thank you all for helping to make my dream come true. I can’t wait to share the Stanley Cup with all of you. I’m looking forward to sharing this with as many of you as I can and I look forward to seeing you on the 25th.
Sincerely, Snook O’Reilly