For the first time ever, both the Rocky Jr. Rebels bantam and peewee football teams will be playing a ‘night game’ on Sept. 14 at Curtis Field.

It’s a golden opportunity to show off the new, approximately $400,000 lighting mast project surrounding the field, says Doug Laut, president of the Rocky Mountain House and District Minor Football Association.

“The fields are in amazing shape. The new lights are there,” says Laut. “They’re impressive to see, especially when you’re right up underneath them on their 80-foot masts.”

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READ MORE: Lighting mast project complete at Curtis Field

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The night games are a first for the community, says Laut, as lack of proper lighting has precluded the teams from playing past dusk in the entire long history of football in Rocky.

“Our lighting system was designed to the specifications to host a high school provincial game at night,” says Laut. “Brad Turner with Cinex Systems was crucial in doing the lighting design. They put a lot of time in at night making sure these lights are pointed. There’s a special lumen meter that they use to make sure that there’s the proper lumen average on the field.”

Laut adds that the lighting masts will have a special ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m. Local football teams, as well as dignitaries such as Rocky Mountain House Acting Mayor Marley Capraro, and MLA Jason Nixon are invited.

The ‘night game’ on Sept. 14 will feature a double-header with the peewees playing Ponoka at 4 p.m., and the bantams playing Red Deer at 7 p.m.

“By halftime, roughly, at our games, the lights will definitely be on and lit up,” says Laut.

The following weekend, Laut says the entire community is invited to a special ‘Football Day’ celebration at Curtis Field, featuring music from a live DJ, concession, as well as a raffle and 50/50 draw.

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READ MORE: ‘Football Day’ in Rocky Mountain House September 21

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“The town really did sort of rally around this [project],” says Laut. “The value of those lights is well north of $400,000 by the time you take in all of the in-kind donations and services that were provided for free and that kind of stuff to make those lights a reality.”