The annual Bruins Sportsman Dinner was a success with the organization raising $65,000 from the event.
There were around 500 people in attendance according to Bruins operations and marketing manager Clark Munroe.
He said that this is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Bruins and appreciated the support from the community.
“Leave it up to the community of Estevan to come up and show up and do great things with fundraising and they did it, can’t thank the community enough,” he said.
During the event there was a silent and live auction to help raise funds. One of the items that went for a premium, according to Munroe is the Darian Durant items, as he was there to sign them.
“He had the two Jersey’s that went for just over $11,000 combined …it was unbelievable to see how high those got,” he said.
The event was hosted by Rod Pederson, play-by-play commentator for the Roughriders and the host of The Sports Cage on 620 CKRM Regina and he did a very good job, according to Monroe.
The night featured two guest speakers, Saskatchewan Roughrider quarterback Darian Durant and former TSN anchor and current Fox Sports anchor Dan O’Toole.
Pederson chatted with Durant, and then the quarterback answered audience questions.
The first question Pedersen asked, and was pretty sure everyone in the province wanted to know, was how his elbow was holding up, especially since Durant recently took part in a training camp in Florida.
Durant responded that the arm is great and that he put in countless hours recovering and making sure he has his strength back.
“The training staff and the surgeon … they did a great job of staying on it each and every day. And I feel great.”
Since everyone is concerned about that elbow, Durant doesn’t mind answering questions about it because he knows that fans of the sport are dedicated to the team.
“People want to know and I don’t mind that. That’s what makes this place special and that’s what I love about it, but it’s just good to let everyone know, in Rider nation, that I’m good to go and I can’t wait to get this thing started,” he said.
Also, during the evening, Durant told the audience what he remembered from the play that took him out for the rest of the 2014 season.
“I just remembered I was ready to throw… and he (the defensive back) caught me in mid- throwing motion, and my force went against his force and my elbow went backwards and just shattered everything,” Durant said during the event.
He also mentioned that he knew that the injury was bad, and there was no chance of him returning for the rest of the season.
The audience also wanted to know if he is considered a part time worker in Canada. And Durant responded by saying, technically, he only works six months of the year, therefore he's considered a part time worker.
“Hopefully something will get worked out because I defiantly would love to be a full time Canadian myself,” he said.
Going into the season Durant believes that this team can contend for the Grey Cup, he still believes that he has a lot left in the tank and still can compete.
“I feel like I’m in my prime, I’ve had no major injuries to my lower body thankfully and I still can run, I still can maneuver, and I still feel great,” he said.
He also noted that this team is a veteran team and should be one of the top teams in the CFL this season.
O’Toole spoke after the event and the audience enjoyed his comedic style of speech.
The last time, he was in Estevan was during the 2011 Kraft Celebration Tour and said it was the greatest stop of the history of the tour.
One moment he will always remember is when they were getting ready to film the show and a stop sign was in the way of the camera, and shortly after O’Toole notices someone cutting it down, so they could proceed with filming.
Also, before the dinner started O’Toole told the Mercury that he and Jay Onrait are enjoying their time at Fox Sports 1.
He did mention in the first year, there were some hiccups but now they have the show similar to the way they had in it Toronto.
“Our vision was to airlift our show from Toronto into L.A., and that didn’t happen. But now we kind of have a mirror image with different sports, a lot of college football and a lot of NFL; but we’re doing (the show) in the same kind of style,” he said.
Even though he is enjoying his time at FOX Sports, he said he still misses talking sports in Canada.
“We miss talking 45 minutes of a one hour show about hockey, we miss everything that has to do with Canada including the CFL,” he said. “We miss this country a great deal and we hope we’re doing everyone proud by what we’re doing in the States and bringing our own style there.”
Munroe said that the audience enjoyed the speakers.
“We couldn’t have asked for a better night. Our speakers exceed our expectations. I don’t think you’ll find a person who went to that event who disliked listening to Darian Durant or Dan O’Toole,” Munroe said.
For the fundraiser next year, Munroe said that they talked about it very briefly, and the date might change; since the organization will be hosting the 2016 Western Canada Cup in the spring.
“Nothing is set in stone, but it can be a little earlier it than it has been in recent years."
