The 18th annual Pigs-N-Heat charity hockey game between the Houghton Police Department and the Houghton Fire Department will return after a one-year hiatus.
Pigs-N-Heat is the largest fundraising event for the Copper Country Police & Fire Relief Fund. The emergency fund provides financial assistance for citizens of Houghton and Keweenaw counties who are victims of fire, crime and other emergency situations.
The game will be held in the John MacInnes Student Ice Arena on Feb. 4 at 7 p.m.
In past years, Pigs-N-Heat has raised upwards of $7,000. Lt. Nick Roberts of the Houghton Police Department said he is hoping that this year’s game will be a record-breaking year for fundraising.
“The biggest help we need is for people to buy tickets,” Roberts said.
Admission tickets are priced at one for $3 or two for $5 and will also serve as entry into raffles the night of the game. Tickets can be purchased in advance from the Houghton City Center, from local law enforcement offices and will be on sale in the MUB Keweenaw Commons on Thursday and Friday, Jan. 27 – 28 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day, and had also been sold in Fisher on Tuesday Jan. 24.
As an incentive to purchase tickets in advance, Michigan Tech has donated a skybox for the night of the game. The skybox will be raffled off Jan. 28, a week before the game.
On the night of the game, supporters will be entered into a raffle to win cash prizes of $1,000, $750, or $500. Other raffle prizes will include a two-night stay at the Edgewater Hotel and Waterpark in Duluth, Minnesota, a shotgun, and various donations from local vendors.
All local elementary schools were provided with free admission tickets for their students to attend the Pigs-N-Heat game.
During halftime there will be a kids’ chuck-a-puck contest. Participants will have the opportunity to purchase pucks for $1. Whoever throws the puck closest to center ice will win a prize.
Roberts said that the event has received overwhelming support from the community, including Michigan Tech.
“I want Tech to know that they’re part of it,” Roberts said. “If something should happen to the students, they’re a part of our community and we’ll assist them as much as we assist anyone else in our community. That’s why we need them to buy tickets and come to the game.”
