Everyone at the watch party for Jessica Sevick and Gabrielle Smith clutched their hearts as they watched the hometown team race on the Olympic stage, and while it wasn’t a shiny medal finish, every person that watched in Strathmore felt proud.

Yesterday was also proclaimed by the town council as Jessica Sevick Day in Strathmore.

The town hosted a watch party at the new municipal office last night for the women’s double sculls finals. The race was exciting and the room was filled with people wearing red and waving Canadian flags.

After the race, Mayor Pat Fule made a surprise announcement.

“We decided to do some things in honor of Jessica. As you all know today is Jessica Sevick Day and we had this watch party,” he said. He revealed that he had been in contact with Sevick’s mother and that she spoke to Jessica the night before and Jessica was a bit overwhelmed.

The Mayor said, “She's excited and I think we know how important it is for her and her family and this is great showing up in the top six in the world.”

The Mayor will ask the town council to direct town administration to examining the idea of purchasing some rowing equipment for the Strathmore Motor Product Sports Center.

He said, “I was talking to some young skateboarders today who did not know that skateboarding is now in the Olympics, so they're excited and out there somewhere, maybe it's my granddaughter, but maybe there's someone girl who's going to be inspired by Jessica and wants to get into rowing.”