Kinsmen Celebrity Sports Banquet great evening of fundraising and fun
It might have had a bit of a different look and saw a slightly different format, but one thing was the same for the 26th Annual Kinsmen Celebrity Sports Banquet, the fundraising event was a huge success.
More than 400 people packed into the Heritage Inn banquet hall for the show, which once again featured a star-studded line-up of sports speakers – Saskatchewan Roughriders centre Dan Clark, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Joe Biagini and Hockey Hall of Famer Lanny McDonald. Sportsnet’s Jamie Campbell was once again the Master of Ceremonies for the night.
“It was a great experience,” said Banquet chairman Justin Wilk. “I’ve been doing this for seven years behind the scenes and we wanted to step up and do something different this year. The committee changed a few things and we thought it went pretty well.” The changes were largely cosmetic – the bar service was moved into the Spencer’s room as opposed to the hall itself, the layout for the silent auction was altered and the set-up of the hall was updated, compared to previous years.
The presentation of the speakers also took on a new look this year, as headliner McDonald spoke before the trio of celebrities took part in a hot stove question and answer session with attendees.
“The speakers really blended well together with their personalities and they were all really good,” Wilk said. “It was cool to have Lanny talk for as long as he did, too, telling stories from back in the good ole days, another side of the old-school hockey when it was always a big battle.”
Of course, the major theme of the evening was fundraising, and once again, the Moose Jaw community stepped up in a big way. The silent auction was wildly successful, and the live auction – featuring everything from signed jerseys and hockey card collections to special wood carvings -- brought in tens of thousands of dollars. While the final total raised wasn’t available as of press time, it’s expected to once again be well over the $30,000 range, adding the million-plus raised for local sports charities in the event’s history
“It was another special auction this year,” Wilk said. “A lot of people in the community stepped up and they got some unique items that you can’t find anywhere else. Then a lot of new people stepped in and bought a lot of stuff, people were enjoying what we had for variety. We were trying to hit every sport and have some different things, too.”
The evening also saw a trio of annual awards presented: the Penny Barker curling rink was named the Country 800 Team of the Year after their impressive run through the provincial championships to the Scotties Tournament of Hearts; Brier-winning curler Pat Simmons received the Kinsmen Sports Achievement award for his ongoing legacy of winning on the ice; and longtime local coach, player, Kinsmen Banquet organizer and KidSport Moose Jaw founder Cory Olafson received the inaugural Moose Jaw Express Sports Builder award.
“I’d say it was a successful year with the amount of changes we made, it’s about the community, every year they step up and make this fundraiser a big success,” Wilk said.