Fleury, Wickenheiser among Evening with Landsberg speakers
There are two reasons Michael Landsberg picked Peterborough to host some of his celebrity friends for a major fundraiser.
Dave Pogue, founder of Team 55 Let’s Tackle Suicide Awareness, is one reason and the sense of community in Peterborough is another. The TSN personality will host An Evening with Landsberg and Friends on Nov. 21 at the Trentwinds International Centre. It’s a fundraiser for his charity Sick, Not Weak and Team 55.
Among his celebrity friends confirmed to speak at the dinner are hockey stars Hayley Wickenheiser, Theo Fleury, Darren McCarty and Luke Richardson. There will be others announced in coming weeks.
Landsberg spoke about his battles with depression during the Team 55 Friday Night Lights fundraiser Friday night at Thomas A. Stewart Athletic Field. The event raised $8,900, well above its $5,000 goal, for the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Kids On The Block program. In an interview with The Examiner, Landsberg discussed his reason for partnering with Team 55 starting with the fact he’ll take any opportunity he can get to talk about mental health.
“I’m a professional talker and that’s all I do in life, really, is talk so if i can get an opportunity to talk and share and maybe change a life, I’ll take it any time,” he said.
“Then when you meet a guy like Dave Pogue and you realize where his message comes from and his commitment to it, I’d follow Dave Pogue anywhere. That man is a leader. I don’t even look at it as a partnership. I look at it as I’m grabbing onto him and going along for a ride that will spread the word and will make a difference.”
This will be the first fundraiser he’s been a part of for Sick, Not Weak, which started as a blog where Landsberg shares his story. He thinks Peterborough is an ideal place to start.
“I come from Toronto. Toronto is not a community. Toronto is a big place where a lot of people live. But where you live here, Peterborough, this a community where people care about each other. Where people know about each other. In the case of Dave he can create this community event which I can’t do. Which I think is the greatest thing. We met. We talked and it was like, ‘Let’s do this.’”
Landsberg says he’s hosted many events over the years, but nothing so personal.
“I’ve never done an event where Sick, Not Weak was part of it. Where we would get proceeds from the event to use to change lives. Never done that before. So this is really exciting for me,” he said.
Tickets for An Evening with Landsberg and Friends are $125 and go on sale Thursday at noon at Peterborough Cold Storage, 375 Aylmer St. N, or by emailing Team55tickets@gmail.com or by calling 705-748-5653, ext. 5 weekdays between noon and 6 p.m. More information is available on Team 55’s Facebook page.
Major sponsors include The Protectors Group, the Baseball Zone, The Monopoly Group and RBC Dominion Securities.