Anne Sutherland
The Gazette

Adventures? The Calgary Grey Cup Committee has a few tales to bring back to Cowtown.

Yesterday morning, prior to their huge pancake party at Place du Canada, members of the band that entertain at these events had a rude awakening.

The van with all of their musical equipment had been unceremoniously towed from the parking lot across the street from their hotel.

The transgression? Payment for the lot parking machine runs out at 6 a.m., and sometime between 6 and 8 a.m., when they came to pick up the vehicle, it was towed off to an impound yard.

What's a band without instruments? An a cappella group, but that wouldn't cut it entertaining 6,000 hungry football fans out for flapjack fun on a frosty morning.

After figuring out the French notice and learning the van was in an impound yard, committee chairperson Cory Royal - the first female chair in the group's 60-year existence - and the band members went to the yard, only to be told the van was in storage until Monday.

After some begging and a fine of about $200, they got the van back and managed to get to the Grey Cup Village to set up for yesterday's breakfast.

With 500 pounds of batter and 756 pounds of sausage patties, Royal figured they had enough supplies to cook 12,000 pancakes and sausage breakfasts over two days.

Wrong. The crowd yesterday depleted the sausage supply, and the crew were heading to Costco in the afternoon to buy a heap more pork products.

"We set up at 5 a.m. and got all the 10 stoves going, but we're serving lots," said Tim Dominick, stirring up the batter with a paint mixer as the crowd snaked behind the tent.

"We tell 'em it's pancake batter, but it's really drywall mud," he joked.

Really, he was kidding.

With fresh supplies, the Calgary folks will be doing it again this morning in the Grey Cup Village,

10 a.m. to noon.
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The Touchdown Manitoba social was a sellout yesterday at the Delta Centre-Ville, with 1,100 people packed into the ballroom and anterooms on the lower level of the hotel.

There were lots of beads, face-painting and brightly coloured acrylic wigs, because nothing says football like fake hair.

Bill Rivers had a unique get-up: he glued a bathroom vent to the top of his Eskimos baseball cap. "I'm an Edmonton FAN - get it?" said the veteran of 13 Grey Cup games.

Like a lot of fans interviewed, Rivers doesn't care who wins tomorrow but wants a close game, not a blowout.

Three men in Saskatchewan jerseys and plaid kilts stood out in the wild crowd. Danny Terpstra, Darren Mueller and Ken Howell grew up in Regina but live in different cities and countries. Despite the geography, they attend the Grey Cup together every year.

"About 10 years ago, we decided to go to every Cup game until we die, and we have (so far)," said Terpstra, pointing to nine Grey Cup lapel pins on his fly plaid.

They plan on wearing their kilts to the game in the Olympic Stadium, but don't think they'll be as cold as they were in 2004 in Ottawa. "Freezing cold, on aluminum seats in the bleachers," said Terpstra of sitting bare-legged at a game. "At least your stadium has a roof and better seats."

Courtesy of: www.montrealgazette.com