RIDERS SPREAD GOODWILL ON HILL
Team’s walk-through on Parliament Hill included tour of sights, ball toss to fan
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ walk-through on Parliament Hill was a Sunday showcase for passcatchers such as Duron Carter, Bakari Grant, Rob Bagg, Caleb Holley and Donna Kitchen.
Kitchen made only one reception — an informal one at that — but it will be a treasured memory.
On Saturday, Kitchen and her husband, Robert, had run into Roughriders head coach and general manager Chris Jones. An avid Roughriders fan, Kitchen made a request.
“She said she wanted to catch a pass from one of our quarterbacks,” Jones said, “so I made sure I arranged it today.”
Kitchen was introduced to Brandon Bridge, who called signals before dispatching the team’s newest receiver on a short route.
“He said, ‘Run out five yards, turn around and look at me,’ ” Kitchen recalled. “When he let go of the ball, I was thinking, ‘Catch it ... bring it in ... catch it ... bring it in.’
“I knew that a lot of people were taking pictures, so I told myself, ‘Don’t drop this.’ ”
Unlike Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who was a visitor last year when the Roughriders worked out on Parliament Hill, Kitchen was able to make the catch.
There was another step to the process. Kitchen asked if she could punctuate her catch with a head-bob, emulating one of the Roughriders’ touchdown celebrations. Once again, the Roughriders were obliging.
“Chris Jones was fabulous to do this,” said Kitchen, an Estevan resident whose husband is the MP for Souris-Moose Mountain.
“I’m so proud to be from Saskatchewan and so proud to have this team represent our province.”
Nobody represents the team and the province better than Bagg, a 10th-year Roughrider. He, like the spectators who turned out on a gorgeous fall afternoon, savoured Sunday’s session.
“To be able to come here and be able to do a light walk-through on Parliament Hill is certainly a pretty neat experience,” Bagg said.
“Not many people can say that they come out here and have an organized function like we have. I certainly appreciate the city providing us with this opportunity. I think it’s pretty cool, especially for the guys that see it for the first time.”
For the uninitiated, Bagg is pleased to serve as a tour guide when the players visit sites such as Parliament Hill and the National War Memorial.
“I enjoy watching the guys learn more about the Canadians’ involvement, whether it’s in global conflicts or about our roles in the major wars that have come through in the last century,” Bagg said.
“A lot of these guys don’t even know we were there. As a proud Canadian and as a kid whose grandfather fought in the war, I like to open their eyes to the fact that we’ve been a global player for a long time as well.”
Looking back a long time, Bagg vividly and fondly remembers the many occasions when he visited the Parliament Buildings while he was an elementaryschool student in Kingston — which is 200 kilometres from Ottawa.
“Ottawa’s a beautiful city, whether it’s the art museums or Parliament or everything else that you learn in this area,” he said. “Growing up around here, our teachers certainly made a point to bring us out here very often.”
How does it look now compared to back then?
“It just seemed a lot bigger,” Bagg responded with a laugh. “Everything’s bigger when you’re younger, of course, but the beauty and the history only grow on you when you get older and learn more about our history as Canadians and the pride that you have for the country.
“The more times that you come back here, the more you are just appreciative of being a Canadian citizen.”
Bagg planned to show his appreciation by behaving in exemplary fashion during a subsequent tour of the Parliament Buildings.
“Mrs. Cooley, I think, was the last teacher I remember taking me here,” he recalled. “I apologize for running through the halls and making you chase me. This time, I promise I’ll walk and listen.”