Ticket sales for the upcoming Athabasca Rotary Club celebrity dinner continue to go strong, with just over 400 sold so far.
The dinner is set to go Oct. 27 at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex, and this year’s guest speaker is author and sports anchor Jay Onrait.
Rob Balay, one of the organizers, said it should be exciting to have a good old local boy come in to speak to the people.
“Our ticket sales have been very encouraging so far,” Balay said. “It should be a fun night.”
According to a biography provided by the Rotary Club, Onrait was born in Calgary in 1974. His family later moved with him to Athabasca, where he was raised in the aisles of the family drug store.
“Jay is a local boy who has done well,” Balay said. “He’s made it to the high levels of the sports industry, including working for ESPN in the United States, and he’s covered several Olympic games over the years. He is also an author, too.”
Onrait’s biography lists among his many achievements a Gemini Award in 2011 for Best Sportscaster for his work on Sportscentre. In 2013, he released his first book, Anchorboy, with HarperCollins.
“It’s our understanding that Onrait will discuss his experiences, and some funny stories,” Balay continued. “It’ll likely be a very entertaining evening for everyone who attends.”
He mentioned that Onrait came to the area a few years ago, when he was the guest speaker at Edwin Parr Composite (EPC) School’s graduation ceremonies.
“The school just loved him during his speech,” Balay said. “For us, picking him as our celebrity this year was an easy choice.”
Auction
Balay said for the auction portion of the evening, they have had lots of sponsors donate items.
“Our community has been outstanding and very generous with what they offered,” he said. “We now have a wide range of items for our live, online and silent auctions. The opining bids range from $50 all the way up to as high as $8,000. It gives everybody an opportunity to bid.”
He said some pretty cool items are on the live auction, including a dinner with Onrait himself.
“The winner of this item, valued at $1,000, will see Jay sit right at their dinner table,” Balay said. “We also have a couple of trips, one to Maui and the other to Puerto Vallarta. We also have a signed Connor McDavid Team Canada World Championship jersey valued at $1,000, a Loge table for four at an Edmonton Oilers game Dec. 22 against Tampa Bay, as well as a print of the Edmonton Oilers 1984-85 “Greatest Team”, valued at $5,000.”
He said there are lots of items to go for in the silent auction as well.
“They include a $100 watch, as well as a $75 oil change from Kal Tire,” Balay said. “It also includes some BC wines worth $750, as well as a 24” Oiler’s wreath worth $125.”
Balay added there were also some awesome items to bid on for the online auction.
“They include a $1,000 travel credit for Via Rail, as well as a steak dinner for 16 at Elsa’s valued at $800,” he said. “All auction items are view only until Oct. 18, at which point they will be open to bid.”
More information on each of the auction items can be found by going to the 2018 Rotary Celebrity Dinner & Auctions page.
