KIPLING — Every year during Canada Day weekend, families and friends come together for the annual Bobby Vargo Memorial Slo-pitch tournament in Kipling.
In honour of the late Bobby Vargo, who was an active member of the Kipling community, families and local groups in town volunteer every year to help with the well-known event.
“The tournament is a big part of our family, it’s to bring our family together to remember our son,” said Glen Vargo, father of Bobby Vargo.
This year will be the 11th year since the tournament began.
Bobby, who lost his life at age 27 in a car accident, grew up in Kipling and was an engaged member of the community.
Even after moving to the States, Bobby’s involvement in the community continued, his father said.
“My son loved his home and his community, he was always very proud of where he came from and where he grew up,” said Vargo.
“Anywhere he lived he made it a point to get involved in the community and to be a part of things.
“When he and his wife were living in Â鶹´«Ã½AV Dakota, he played ball, he was on the volunteer fire department there, he spearheaded a drive to build a daycare, and any organization that needed help he was involved. He only lived there for a short time, but he got very involved.
“I guess that’s maybe the way he was raised—when you’re involved in your community it benefits everyone, and you benefit from it as well.
“He was a kid that was very involved in the community, like I said he loved where he grew up.”
With all the community support and local sponsorship received for organizing the tournament, Vargo said the weekend event resembles characteristics of Bobby.
“When we first started this thing, this is kind of what we had hoped it would turn into,” he said.
“Not only a celebration of our son’s life and his commitment to the community, but the way people get together for the weekend. The fact that people choose to spend some time with our family, it really does mean a lot to us for them to be a part of things with us.
“It’s exactly what we envisioned when we started the tournament and it’s definitely what Bobby would love to be a part of.”
The community support for the event is appreciated by the Vargo family.
“It’s tremendous, it’s actually quite humbling when you see how much support we get for this tournament,” said Vargo.
“Between, not only the monetary support from the sponsorships that pays for everything we do but the people involved and the volunteers, even the people who come to just play ball and spend the weekend with us, it’s very humbling.”
What activities are planned for the Canada Day weekend?
The Canada Day weekend event will be happening at the Bobby Vargo Memorial Fields at Kipling Lions Park.
In addition to the scheduled back-to-back ball games, there will also be a 50/50 draw all weekend, a silent auction, a Kipling Kidcare Cabaret and other activities.
On Thursday, June 29, games will begin at 6 p.m. The following day ball games will start at 10 a.m. and end with a home run derby and a silent auction.
On Saturday, July 1, the Kipling firefighters will be hosting a pancake breakfast from 7 am to 11 am, then there will be kids’ activities such as a petting zoo, airbrush tattoos, bouncers and more.
In the evening there will also be a Kipling Kidcare Cabaret from 9:30 p.m. to 2 a.m., followed by fireworks provided by the town.
To date, the tournament has raised over $193,000.
From last year’s tournament, the community was able to raise $47,284.10.
Vargo said all of the proceeds from the event go back to supporting the local groups who help and organize activities, for the tournament.
“Probably the biggest thing (we hope people get) is to feel a sense of community,” he said.
“All of the money we’ve raised from this stays in our community. We have projects at the ballpark that we’ve been doing over the years, we’re doing more now, and we’ve got a big one on the go, but there are service groups that are a part of our tournament, such as the Lions Club, they run their food booth and all of the money they make in that weekend is theirs.
“The Kipling Daycare puts on a cabaret on the last night and all of the money they raise is theirs.
“The senior baseball team, we have a dunk tank, they bring that dunk tank out and kids throw balls to dunk these guys in the water, and the senior baseball team makes a few hundred dollars for the day.
“All of these groups that are involved in the tournament, it benefits everyone. All of the money the Lions Club makes goes right back into the community, the daycare is very important to keep going and this is a major fundraiser for them.
“This tournament greases a lot of wheels I guess. This year there’s a travel club in town, a group that is planning on taking some high school kids to Europe next year and they’re going to be doing all of our cleanup and collecting all of the recyclable bottles from the weekend, that’s going to be their money.
“There’s a lot of groups involved and they all have a portion of the pie.”
Vargo said he and his family are thankful for people dedicating their time to help with the big event.
“The weekend seems to grow a little bit more every year and without all of the help we get from family and the people who are involved, Bobby’s friends who are involved on our committee, we wouldn’t be able to do the things that we do, that’s for sure,” said Vargo.
Happy to see tournament thrive for 11 years
Vargo said being able to host the Bobby Vargo Memorial Slow Pitch tournament for its 11th year means a lot to his family.
“It’s very special, especially now that the fields carry his name. That in itself means a tremendous amount to us, to know that forever all of those fields will carry my son’s name,” he said.
“It makes us work a little harder to make sure everything goes well, and to make sure people know why we’re doing what we are doing.”
The best part of the tournament is seeing returning families who have been supporting the occasion for years, said Vargo.
“We have our home run derby on Friday night and we have a little deal called ‘It’s the Future of the Tournament’ and we’ll bring out about 25 kids that are eight years old and under from the community, and our grandchildren,” he said.
“We then introduce them, after we introduce all of the peers in the home run derby, and to see the smiles on those kids when they come running out there being introduced wearing the T-shirt that’s sponsored by McMillan Motor Products, it’s pretty cool.
“Because now this is our 11th year, we’ve had some teams enter that are groups of young people that have grown up with this tournament. It started 11 years ago, and now they’re playing in it.
“For us, that’s a big thing because it’s not only a part of our family and our community, but it’s a part of other families that decided this is going to be their weekend to bring everyone home.”
