‘Show must go on:’ Beechy moves ahead with fundraiser despite setback

Organizers in the village of Beechy were left scrambling Wednesday when they learned the main attraction for their arena fundraiser would not be coming.

“We had quite the war room going on last night with our members,” said committee chair Justin Dubasov on Thursday. “We kind of decided the show must go on.”

Bad weather in eastern Ontario and Quebec grounded flights, forcing the Montreal Canadiens Alumni Tour to cancel their Saskatchewan games. Beechy was set to host the alumni game on Friday against the Coteau Valley Bombers.

For organizers in Beechy, too much has been invested with sponsors to simply cancel the game. Dubasov estimated they have spent roughly $50,000 on the game itself, caterers and comedian Kelly Taylor.

“We’re really optimistic that we’re still going to make this event all that we hoped it would be.”

Swift Current’s Travis Moen, who was on the Habs alumni roster, has still committed to playing. Dubasov said the challenge right now is finding replacement players to play against their local team.

“The planning committee has reached out to various Saskatchewan celebrities and former professional athletes to accomplish this goal and are optimistic at this time,” said a post on the event’s Facebook page.

Built in 1967, the village’s arena needs upgrades. The village is planning to build a fully accessible addition, which will include washrooms and two new dressing rooms.

Games scheduled for Thursday in Saskatoon, Saturday in Wynyard and Sunday in Regina were also cancelled.