MOOSEJAWTODAY.COM -- With a new venue, more space and, most importantly, plenty of community support, the Moose Jaw Kinsmen are a little more than a day away from hosting another successful Sports Celebrity Banquet.
Given the history of the event, that’s probably the least surprising statement imaginable.
What might be a surprise is just how many tickets have been sold this time around.
With the banquet moving to the Moose Jaw Exhibition Grounds convention centre for the first time in 2024, more than 500 tickets have already been purchased, with room for a few more last-minute tables if need be.
It’s another example of how much the local sports community enjoys the event while helping support one of the most charitable service clubs in Moose Jaw at the same time.
“We’d love to get a table or two at the last minute, but we’re happy with the 500 we have right now, that’s really great to see,” said Sports Banquet chairman Travis Olson. “The new venue is looking awesome. We have a few things to finish up, but it looks amazing and we’re really excited for people to see it.”
Even with the new venue, the banquet itself will remain largely the same. Rod Black returns as the MC for the show, with special guests Chris Pronger, Duncan Keith and Eric Gagne the highlight of the night.
“Not too much is changing with how we’ve run it in the past, it’s still going to be our same silent auction and live auction and all the draws we normally do, but it’s just going to look a little different, new and improved, and we’re pretty proud of it,” Olson said.
The Kinsmen have also once again put together a stellar line-up of silent and live auction items, with the club taking advantage of Pronger and Keith’s Team Canada bona fides to offer a few unique items in the live auction.
Other than that, folks can expect to see all sorts of special items up for bid.
“We have some great memorabilia,” Olson said. “We have a lot of hockey things, some baseball, golf, boxing, basketball… we have a little bit of everything in our silent auction. Then in the live auction there are some things I think will really wow some people.”
The goal is to raise as much money as possible for the Moose Jaw Kinsmen, with every penny from the proceeds going back into the community through their myriad sponsorships and support of local organizations.
The total has exceeded $100,000 in recent years, with more than $2,000,000 raised since the event began 31 years ago.
The Banquet will also see a trio of special awards presented, including the Kinsmen Sports Achievement Award, CHAB Team of the Year Award and Moose Jaw Express Sports Builder Award.
Folks can still pick up last-minute tickets and tables. Tickets are $400 a pair and $1,500 for a table of eight.
Things get underway with cocktails at 4:30 p.m., program starting at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m.
Contact Olson at (306) 531-9038, Scott Paquin at (306) 314-9108 or e-mail the Kinsmen at [email protected] to get last-minute tickets.
