The annual Kinsmen Sports Celebrity Dinner drew its usual legion of passionate sports fans to a newly spacious venue at the Moose Jaw Exhibition Centre, with nearly 600 people combining to raise funds for Kinsmen charity projects throughout the city. 

For this 31st edition of the banquet, the celebrity guests of honour were former National Hockey League players Chris Pronger and Duncan Keith, and former Major League Baseball pitcher Eric Gagne, with celebrity sportscaster Rod Black returning as MC. 

Over an 18-year career, Pronger became a Stanley Cup champion, world championship winner, and two-time Olympic gold medalist.  

Keith had a 17-year career in the NHL and won the Stanley Cup three times, including being named MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2015.

Eric Gagne played Major League Baseball for 9 years, becoming a three-time all-star, 2007 World Series Champion, and the second Canadian ever to win the Cy Young Award in 2003.

“The new venue looks amazing, it’s awesome, we’re very, very proud of it,” said Travis Olson, Kinsmen chairperson of the Sports Celebrity Banquet. Olson was interviewed during the evening of the banquet on April 6.

“We’ve got a little over 500 people here and we’re just excited to have a good night,” Olson continued. “The headliners are here, they’re currently enjoying themselves in the VIP lounge with title sponsor, CPKC Railway, and yeah, they’re excited to be in Moose Jaw.” 

The venue was shifted from many previous years at the Moose Jaw Heritage Inn, and much of the buzz from the crowd was how more elbow room there was at the Exhibition Centre.  

Several auction tables filled with donated and sponsored items attracted attention from attendees and drew thousands of dollars’ worth of bids. There were also fundraising games played throughout the night, such as a ‘Head and Tails’ game that saw one lucky winner take home a $3,000 gift card from major sponsor Moose Jaw Co-op. 

Substantial funds were raised just from the pre-dinner Celebrity Auction — one table of ranchers paid more than $2,000 to have Rod Black eat with them. Auctioneer Scott Johnstone’s rapid-fire calls brought an authentic livestock-auction excitement to each of the night’s live auctions. 

There are also awards presented each year for local achievements in sports. Bryan Boys, president of the Moose Jaw Kinsmen Minor Football Association, won the Kinsmen Sports Achievement Award. 

For his decades of inspiring, sportsmanlike contributions to local baseball, Tony Dreger won the Moose Jaw Express Sports Builder Award, while the Central Cyclones Boys 4A Basketball Team won the Team of the Year Award (sponsored by Golden West Broadcasting, DiscoverMooseJaw.com, and Homefield Marketing) for their provincial dominance. 

The Central Cyclones have been provincial finalists at every championship for nearly 10 years, and have taken the top spot for the last four years consecutively. The award was accepted on behalf of the team by volunteers Wendy Vincent, Tahnie MacDiarmid, and coach Shaun Muchowski. 

A particular highlight for Olson each year is the Hot Stove Session with celebrity guests near the end of the night. 

“A couple of things stand out to me — first of all, we’ve got a great emcee in Rod Black, he keeps the night fun and entertaining. But I think the thing I’m most looking forward to is we do a Hot Stove with celebrities and they get to tell some stories and they get to share their experiences with the crowd. ... and it’s a lot of fun. 

“Again, huge thank-you to everybody that supported the dinner.”