Calgary booster rides the rails to promote city at football final

Dave Miller’s on his 27th mission to promote Calgary and its Stampede to Canadians through the power of the Grey Cup.

But on a just-completed train ride to Toronto, the site of this year’s match, the boss of the Calgary Grey Cup Committee’s pancake breakfasts sold a global audience on the sizzle of his home town and the game it expects its team to win.

“A lot of people on that train were from different parts of the world,” said Miller of the Via Rail trip that he hopped Saturday night in Edmonton and pulled in to Toronto Tuesday morning.

They hailed from Germany, France, Australia and South Africa to name a few of the countries and all were wholly in the dark about the reason for his pilgrimage, he said.

“When I mentioned the Grey Cup they got this very strange look on their face, they didn’t know what that is,” said Miller. “I told them about the 1948 origins of what we’re doing — you really have to go back to square one.”

On the way across the country, Canadians and foreigners alike on the train were serenaded by the acoustic guitars of Glenn Baker and Matt Beatty of the band High Steppin’ Daddy who’ll be entertaining crowds in Toronto.

Miller said he’s not sure if any of those curious travellers will make a point of catching Sunday’s game, either in person or on TV.

But he said it’s a certainty another great gridiron party awaits, even in a city that doesn’t seem to care a lot about the championship festival in its midst.

“Toronto generally doesn’t care much for the Grey Cup, it’s the people who come in for it that make it a party,” said Miller.

But that doesn’t mean locals won’t be among those flocking to the committee’s pancake breakfasts, which will feed between 2,000 and 3,000 people, he added. They’ll be whipping up grub from 127 kg of dried pancake batter and 80 kg of sausages on 10 stoves for the two planned repasts.

“We don’t usually have any food left over,” said Miller, who’ll be among about 50 committee members in Toronto for the festival that concludes with Sunday’s game against the Ottawa Redblacks at BMO Field.

The group will also pull off its traditional horse ride through a hotel lobby, though this year it won’t be the Royal York Hotel. The downtown Holiday Inn will be the site.

And they’ll also pay a visit to a Toronto elementary school to showcase some of Calgary’s western heritage.

While the committee’s bankrolled by the city and Stampede, volunteers like Miller pay their own way.

“We pay big bucks to volunteer but it’s a lot of fun — I’m a big believer in Calgary and the Stampede,” said the man who’ll be attending his 37th Grey Cup.

Miller’s also a big believer in a Stampeder victory Sunday in the 104th edition of the game.