Skip to content

Kraft tour electrifies the Energy City

By the time TSN left Estevan on Thursday, it had cemented the seventh stop on this year's Kraft Celebration Tour as one of the most memorable events ever to hit the city.
GN201110110839992AR.jpg
Estevan was promised a great show and that got just that as Don O'Toole (left) and Jay Onrait proved to be electric hosts for the local stop on the Kraft Celebration Tour. The TSN hosts warmed up the crowd for an hour and then went live for the one-hour SportsCentre broadcast.


By the time TSN left Estevan on Thursday, it had cemented the seventh stop on this year's Kraft Celebration Tour as one of the most memorable events ever to hit the city.

SportsCentre anchors Jay Onrait and Dan O'Toole, along with their crew, arrived in the early hours of Wednesday morning, spent that day touring the community and put on a show Thursday that will be burned in the minds of many for years to come.

Three blocks of 4th Street were closed off for the occasion and about 2,500 revellers packed the space with creative signs and Saskatchewan Roughriders gear.

It was a celebration that many felt Estevan needed after enduring floods earlier this year.

"It's a party for the community and it's a chance for small towns to brag, because we as Canadians don't ever really brag about ourselves," O'Toole told the Mercury.

"This is a chance for towns like Estevan and Kyle to step up and say, 'Hey, we're proud about what we do here.'"

The broadcast attracted residents from all fabrics of the community, not just football, and that was by design.

"That was really important to us because all of us involved in football are involved with other things. We don't just live here. This is our home," said minor football volunteer Brenda Lyons.

The experience was also one to remember for Onrait and O'Toole, who witnessed the flooding aftermath first-hand and enjoyed Estevan hospitality everywhere they went.

"They did a rodeo just for us in Kyle (on Tuesday) and that was unbelievable, allowing us to drive cars on the dirt track - it's experiences like that that you take away and say, 'Wow, that'd be a cool place to live,'" added O'Toole.

Still, the overriding theme of the day was football, extending to appearances by members of the Riders and Regina Rams.

Each edition of SportsCentre on the tour includes a lengthy feature on the host community, and the story on Estevan highlighted the beginnings of local football programs and the battle they are now waging to recover from flooding damage.

"It was really nice to see the recognition that down here we're working really hard at trying to put a football program together," said Elecs head coach Marco Ricci.

"It's about building good young citizens who in the future can contribute in some way to the city and I really believe those are the core values football teaches."

Mayor Gary St. Onge added that he was happy to see the community get behind the event, not only with their support but also their attendance on a workday.

"It was a lot of fun and a lot of people came out and they had a great time," said St. Onge. "And of course Jay and Dan, they are quite the characters. Especially Jay, I think he could get a party going anywhere. It was really good and I was glad so many people came out."