SPORTS FLASHBACK 1988: Thanks for the help, Bombers

Years down the road, I’ll be able to tell people that I played for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers when they won their first game in 1988.

Of course, I won’t mention it was slow-pitch softball we were playing, or that the Bombers let me bat once, so we wouldn’t beat the other team too badly.

Never bother them with too much detail, I say. When there’s too much detail, people lose interest and quit listening. Just the facts, that’s what I always say.

The fact is, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers deserve a vote of thanks for their performance on the softball field.

The fact is, the efforts of the Winnipeg football club drew a lot of attention to a worthy project, and more importantly, raised a lot of money for the Esther Penner Fund.

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and the Ste Anne Angels got together to raise a few dollars to help defray medical expenses for the six-year-old leukemia victim.

Chris Walby pitched, Bob Molle caught, Willard Reeves hit, and Buzz entertained. Jacques St Vincent and the Ste Anne Angels provided the opposition for the Big Blue.

The fact is the Ste Anne Angels deserve a vote of thanks as well. It is good to see a sports team take that kind of initiative to help a community project.

The fact is that better than 250 people thoroughly enjoyed an evening of hot dogs, softball, and entertainment provided by the Bombers’ mascot, Buzz.

In case anybody cares, the official score of the ball game was Bombers 12-Angels 7. Other scores reported were 11-9, 13-10 and 12-6 for the Bombers, and one fan over by the Ste Anne bench said it was 15-12 for the Angels. But who was counting?

The only numbers that counted this night were 3-7-8-5, which was the dollar figure added to the Esther Penner Fund.

In addition to the money collected at the gate and individual donations at the park, the fund received $500 from the Winnipeg Jets Goals for Kids Foundation.

The Ste Anne Martin Courcelles Trust Fund donated $500 as well and Ste Anne and Richer added $535 collected in a canvass organized by Kim Blanchard and Rita Allard.

Hot dogs and drinks at the park were compliments of Wally Penner at Economy Foods and Labatt’s sponsored a reception for players and fans at Ste Anne after the game.

Abe Kehler who organized the fund to help the family told me before the game donations had already been pouring in from across Canada and $12,000 of the $25,000 goal had already been collected.

It’s great to see that when help is really needed, people are still ready to give.