While it may be a few months away before we start thinking about hockey, the local police, EMS and fire departments are already thinking about how they are going to one-up each other, and who is going to go home the winner of the Battle of the Badges.

Today we sat down with Randy Romkey and Erica Barnson who explained when and where the game will take place.

The game will take place on October 24 from 1:30 to 4 p.m. explained Barnson. “The game is arranged, it's police versus fire and then EMS will provide players that we divide between both teams and then whoever wins gets a nice trophy,” she said.

When asked if there are any friendly wagers yet, there were a few chuckles. Romkey said, “Well, I don't think we've come up with any wagers yet, but I'm sure there will be before the game goes. I mean, the Fire Department are defending champions, so we at the RCMP we are looking forward to taking back our rightful trophy.”

To that Barnson replied, the trophy’s locked away in the fire department. “It’s currently locked away just in case it grows legs and walks away, but we’ll keep it locked down, hopefully.”

This year the charity that was chosen is School Fuel.

Barnson says, “They provide breakfast to a number of schools throughout Strathmore at no cost to the students who require this program.”

In addition, School Fuel is looking for a few individuals who would like to help out and volunteer.

“School Fuel is looking for volunteers because they meet monthly to bake the breakfast that they bring to the schools, so I believe it's every second Tuesday they get together and bake muffins and prepare the rest of the food to deliver to the schools every week,” said Barnson.

Romkey says that admission to the game will be by donation, but “whatever you feel you can afford to pay is what you pay. If you can't pay anything, you're more than welcome to still come.”

“If you can make a small donation, that'll be great, that'll go towards our charity,” he said.

He noted there will also be a silent auction with items for bid which were donated by sponsors.

“We also want to give a shout out to the Town of Strathmore for donating the ice for this event, it goes a long way to making a successful event when we don't have to pay for the ice time,” said Romkey.

If anyone is interested in donating to the silent auction, or becoming a sponsor to the event they can email botbstrathmore@gmailcom.

Keep October 24, open on your calendar as we watch local police, fire and EMS duke it out to be crowned the winner of the Battle of the Badges in Strathmore!