This past weekend the City of Yorkton played host to several former CFL players as the Lions Clubs of Saskatchewan held the inaugural Lions鈥� Celebrity Weekend in the city.
CFL alumni such as Gary Rogers (1994-99, Saskatchewan, Montreal), Larry Hogue (1983-91, Saskatchewan, Calgary), Marshall Hamilton (1981-1985, Saskatchewan, Hamilton, Calgary), Fred Perry (1999-2009, Toronto, Edmonton, Ottawa, Calgary, Saskatchewan, Winnipeg) and Marcus 鈥楥hunky鈥� Adams聽 (2003-11, Saskatchewan, Edmonton) were in attendance throughout the weekend.
Even Damon Duval (2005-11, Montreal, Edmonton), the man responsible for breaking the hearts of Rider Nation in 2009 with a last second 33-yard field goal that gave the Montreal Alouettes a 28-27 Grey Cup victory, was in attendance to help raise money for the Lions鈥� chosen charity the Heart and Stroke Foundation, with specific focus on Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, which is a disease of the heart in which the walls of the heart thicken causing the muscle to work harder than it should.
It is also the leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes and, according to event organizer Aaron Nagy, far more common than many people know. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a genetic heart disease that affects 1-in-120 youth,鈥� said Nagy. 鈥淪o in a city the size of Yorkton it鈥檚 very possible that several kids have this disease but just don鈥檛 know a lot about it.
鈥淪o we鈥檙e bringing attention to that and we鈥檙e hoping that we can educate the people about this and maybe save a life or something like that.鈥�
The way the Lions brought attention to the disease was simple. They brought the CFL celebrities - as well as the Grey Cup itself 鈥� to Yorkton for a weekend that included a pancake breakfast, celebrity basketball tournament and steak night on Friday and a cheerleading clinic, youth football clinic, barbeque and celebrity banquet on Saturday.
Friday
Over 120 people came out to the pancake breakfast at the Yorkton Fire Hall on Friday morning both in support of the Heart and Stroke Foundation and to meet the CFL celebrities, who were also eager to dive into some pancakes before taking part in a celebrity charity basketball game later in the day.
The celebrity basketball tournament on Friday afternoon at Sacred Heart鈥檚 Halo Dome 鈥� which saw the CFL alumni take on the senior Saints basketball players 鈥� was one of the biggest highlights of the first day as the CFL stars came away with a six point victory, 33-27, over the Saints on a very rare six point basketball game touchdown (in reality the game was tied) in a game that was memorable for both the Saints鈥� players and CFL all-stars. 鈥淚t was a great game for a great cause. All of the students were a buzz out here supporting us and having fun with it,鈥� said Duval. 鈥淚 hope everybody enjoyed it and we were just able to come out here and have a good time, relax a little bit, enjoy a bit more of the day and play some basketball for a good cause.
鈥淚 know I enjoyed it and I won鈥檛 forget playing the Saints.鈥�
Graduating Saints basketball player Bryn Hawkins also enjoyed the game, despite one occasion in which she was illegally held back by Fred Perry. 鈥淚 actually thought he was trying to dance with me there,鈥� laughed Hawkins, continuing, 鈥渟o I was just going with it and then realized he wasn鈥檛 and was just cheating so that wasn鈥檛 really fair but it鈥檚 okay because I鈥檓 a good sport!鈥�
Following the basketball game the players moved on to Pocket鈥檚 Sports Bar for a sold out steak night that saw a special guest 鈥� the Grey Cup 鈥� make an appearance.
Saturday
As successful as Friday was, Saturday was even more so as the CFL stars were in their element all day teaching the local youth the ins and outs of the game of football. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about the kids today. We鈥檙e here to make sure these kids get better and teach them as much as we possibly can,鈥� offered former Saskatchewan Roughrider defensive tackle Marcus 鈥楥hunky鈥� Adams. 鈥淎ny time you can come out here and help out the kids is always a joy, especially for me. I鈥檓 smiling, I鈥檓 happy and being on the football grass again is like a dream come true.
鈥淚鈥檓 always happy to come out here with the kids and help them out, joke around with them and have a good time on the football field.鈥�
The players enjoyed the experience as well, with kids from Saskatchewan and Manitoba taking part in the football camp.
Saturday also included a cheerleading camp inside the Halo Dome, a lunch-time BBQ with all money raised going to the Heart and Stroke Foundation and a celebrity banquet at the Painted Hand Casino in the evening to end what event organizer Aaron Nagy called 鈥渁 very successful event鈥� that was 鈥渧ery well attended鈥� by the people of Yorkton.
