Day 1 diary: Celebrating Canadian football fandom, the wonders of aviation, and Roughriders royalty
Anatomy of a Thursday …
6:04 a.m.
The alarm goes off. It immediately occurs to me that, in a mere nine hours’ time, I will be on the other side of the country.
Final destination: Halifax, where the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts are to collide on Saturday in Touchdown Atlantic.
First destination: Regina International Airport.
Ummmm, maybe I should, you know, pack a suitcase or something. This could have been (and should have been) done the night before, but the needy dog required attention. Excuses, excuses …
6:49 a.m.
I am showered and, miraculously, packed. The suitcase, borrowed from my wife, has a snazzy WestJet luggage tag with an equally eye-catching Roughriders logo — ideal for the 2023 Fan Charter.
The flight will include Roughriders partners, season-ticket holders, and a selection of team employees. Every seat will be occupied. This will be a full flight and, it is hoped, a full day.
7:06 a.m.
Upon arriving at the airport, I bid a tearful farewell to my wife, Chryssoula, who has requested anonymity.
The next step is to find the WestJet kiosk for the purpose of printing up a luggage tag.
This intricate process involves scanning in a boarding pass that is stored on my iPhone.
I fail so miserably, albeit predictably, that Jenn Senger — the Roughriders’ Director, Ticket Operations and Sales — must save the day by simply placing my mobile device on a spot that is clearly designated for that purpose.
Instantly, the scanning takes place.
What would we do without Jenn?
7:11 a.m.
Even before I go through security, my laptop is selected for random screening. Some readers would contend that few things on Earth are more dangerous than my words, so I comply without bristling.
7:15 a.m.
I am through security and greeted by a horde of green. Honestly, I have not seen this many Roughriders fans in one airport since the morning of Nov. 24, 1989 — when I flew to Toronto to watch a Grey Cup game that ultimately ended with Saskatchewan defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 43-40.
7:48 a.m.
After Hoovering a breakfast so enthusiastically that sparks emanated from the cutlery, I waddle over to the gate and have the pleasure of meeting Rick Kozachenko and his son, Craig.
Craig resides in Regina, so his morning timetable is presumably comparable to mine, except without the packing panic and scanning schmozzle.
Rick, on the other hand, left his home in Yorkton at 4:30 this morning in order to make it to the airport on time.
He initiates a conversation by asking me about my dog, Candy. Somehow, my endless canine chatter — literally a pet topic — does not compel Rick to flee the premises and drive back to Yorkton. Now that is a fan!
Better yet, Rick also mentioned Joey Walters. Another guaranteed conversation-starter!
I was also elated to discover that Rick attended his first Roughriders game on Aug. 15, 1976, when the host team blanked Edmonton 40-0 at Taylor Field.
The Roughriders’ performance on that day still ranks as the closest thing I have seen to perfection within the context of team sports.
After losing to Edmonton in three consecutive West finals, the Green and White exorcised so many ghosts by dominating its arch-rivals.
Saskatchewan was ahead 30-0 at halftime. The lead was fattened to 37-0 when Bob Macoritti converted a one-yard touchdown run by Ron Lancaster just five minutes into the third quarter.
Lancaster was soon removed from the game after completing 23 of 27 passes for 290 yards and three touchdowns.
7:52 a.m.
Whereas the offence purred on that August day in 1976, there wasn’t any semblance of a smooth drive when my new friend Rick motored from Yorkton to Regina for a game in the early 1980s.
“As soon as I got to Fort Qu’Appelle and went up the hill, my car started losing speed,” he recalls. “As I got closer to Regina, the car started going slower … and slower … and slower … and slower. By the time I hit the city limits, I was going about 30 clicks.
“It turns out that I had blown my clutch. The car was basically coasting into town. I was able to get on to the service road (on Victoria Avenue East) and some guy was nice enough to push me into the McDonald’s parking lot.
“I left the car there and called a cab. When the cab arrived, I said, ‘Please get me to the game on time,’ and threw some extra money at him.”
The cabbie came through in the clutch, as it were. Rick arrived at Taylor Field just in time for the opening kickoff.
“After the game, I called my dad,” he continues. “He picked us up, we got my car, and we soft-towed it all the way back to Yorkton.”
8:39 a.m.
We board WestJet Flight 9501. I’m in Zone 2 and, in short order, Seat 9F.
Coincidentally, that was my home room for my first year of Grade 9.
To my immediate left is Rick Van Beselaere. His wife, Betty, is in the aisle seat. They are such nice people!
I feel badly, actually. For me, it will be a 3½-hour flight to Halifax. For Rick and Betty, it will assuredly seem like 3½ decades.
I must tell them about my dog … and Joey Walters!
(Initial concerns were allayed. It turns out that Rick is a lover of dogs and, in fact, a breeder of beagles. I pass along the news that, once upon a time, a colleague had a dog named Beagle Keys.)
9:14 a.m.
Wheels up in Regina. Profuse thanks to the Wright Brothers.
(Impromptu aviation trivia: The Roughriders first travelled to a game via air on Oct. 6, 1947. They flew to Calgary on a Monday afternoon, faced the Stampeders that evening, and then boarded a midnight flight back to Regina. They were, according to the Regina Leader-Post, the first team in the history of Western Canadian professional football to fly to a road game.)
9:17 a.m.
The WestJet staff is in typically good humour.
Passengers are informed, jokingly, that anyone caught smoking or vaping in one of the aircraft’s washrooms “will move to Section 28, which is the wing.”
9:28 a.m.
Rick and Betty are somehow surviving my dog stories, but I’ve almost put myself to sleeeeeeeee…….
11:24 a.m.
I am awakened, without alarm or objection, by the pleasant voice of the wonderful Allyson McDonald — Manager, Ticket Sales — who introduces herself as “your cheerleader” while using the Boeing 737’s public-address system to announce that we will soon be receiving VIP wristbands for the hospitality venue.
Riderville, Halifax version, will be hoppin’ on Friday and Saturday from 7 p.m. to 2 a.m., Atlantic time.
Seated directly behind me (in 10F) is Eva Fletcher, the team’s Event Co-ordinator, who has worked tirelessly on this year’s Riderville Tour. The road show, having already visited Edmonton and Vancouver, is now destined for Halifax.
(Inter-office trivia: There is not a funnier person on the planet than Eva.)
12:11 p.m.
More trivia, via the airplane’s public-address system …
- When was “Green Is The Colour” first played during a Roughriders home game? (July 24, 1981.)
- In what year was the first forward pass thrown in a Grey Cup game? (1929. The pass was thrown by Jack Campbell, whose nickname was Jersey, of the Regina Roughriders. I covered that game.)
- Does Halifax or Regina have the larger population? (Halifax has 466,000 residents. Regina is at 294,000.)
- When was the first divorce in Canadian history? (1750 — and it took place in Halifax! Was there a consequent need to pay … wait for it … Hali-mony?)
These Hali-facts are fascinating! (Sorry again.)
12:20 p.m.
The captain uses the highly popular public-address system to express his appreciation for being a part of this excursion.
“This is a pretty unique flight for us,” he says, “and all of us on the crew appreciate it.”
Fittingly, the crew includes some WestJet employees who have Saskatchewan ties.
12:48 p.m.
We land in Halifax. Touchdown, Saskatchewan!
WRONG! It’s actually 3:48 p.m.
We are now in the Atlantic Time Zone.
In a millisecond, I have aged by three hours. This is what happens, I suppose, when you’re 59.
5:18 p.m.
We check into the hotel. Jenn and Allyson distribute room keys (well, cards) and Touchdown Atlantic T-shirts (XXXXXXXL, please). To my relief, I don’t have to ask Jenn to help me scan anything.
6:22 p.m.
Suppertime … and the livin’ is easy.
We are staying only a few blocks from Halifax Harbour, so off I go to forage for seafood.
The search for a restaurant is blessedly brief.
Strolling along the Halifax Waterfront Boardwalk, I find a place called Salty’s. One look at the menu, posted near the entrance, and I am already ready to order.
Lobster chowder — ding!
Breaded scallops — automatic!
Upon entering the patio area, I luckily run into five other members of our travelling party — Ryan Rennebohm, Robin Rennebohm (Ryan’s daughter), Ellie Thorn (Ryan’s wife), Adrian Godbold and Erika Godbold (Adrian’s daughter).
The Rennebohm family just happens to be part of Roughriders royalty.
Tare Rennebohm Sr. (Ryan’s great-grandfather) entered the SaskTel Plaza of Honour in 1991. He debuted with the Regina Rugby Club in 1916 and also suited up for the local gridders from 1916 to 1926. Along the way, the Roughriders label was adopted.
Tare Rennebohm Jr. (Ryan’s grandfather) played for the Roughriders from 1945 to 1948 and subsequently served as the team’s equipment manager.
The junior Rennebohm wore No. 13 in acknowledgement of the 13 crossings of the Atlantic Ocean — from Halifax to Ireland — he made while with the Royal Canadian Navy during the Second World War. He enlisted in 1940, at age 16.
Following the war, Tare Jr. joined the Roughriders, only to suffer a knee injury that shortened his playing career. The circumstances, as painful was they were, were most fortuitous.
The damaged knee was tended to at Regina General Hospital, where Tare Jr. met a nurse named Louise. She became Louise Rennebohm on Nov. 20, 1948.
Louise passed away on March 17, 2006. Tare Jr. died on Nov. 19, 2009, only 10 days before his beloved Roughriders played in the 97th Grey Cup game.
Ryan never knew his great grandfather, who died in 1961, but was very close to Tare Jr.
In fact, one of Ryan’s prized possessions is a pair of his grandfather’s old football cleats.
Tare Jr. was always very proud of a tattoo that included the words HOMEWARD BOUND.
So, on Ryan’s right arm, you will find the very same inscription, along with nautical images that were so close to the heart of Tare Rennebohm Jr.
As I digest a delectable dinner with amazingly nice people, Ryan rolls up his right sleeve and shows me the tattoo.
As he does this, we are savouring time spent near a body of water that his dear grandfather knew so well, in a city that means so much to a family that will always be celebrated by Rider Nation.
