Benefit raises money, awareness for Thames Valley Children's Centre
By Mark Schadenberg
LONDON – Four farmers lead the list of head table guests for the
annual London Sports Celebrity Dinner & Auction, Monday, Feb. 3.
With Rogers Communications as its title sponsor and with proceeds to
the Thames Valley Children’s Centre (www.tvcc.on.ca), the 58th
annual benefit (www.londonsportdinner.ca)
will be quite a night and the highlight is an appearance by a pair of hockey
brothers known for growing up in farming families.
Bobby and Dennis Hull will be joined on the stage by Dale and Mark
Hunter at the London Convention Centre at 300 York Street. Tickets are
available now online (http://childhealth.akaraisin.com/Common/Event/Home.aspx?seid=7862&mid=8)
for $150 each, students $75 and a table of 10 for $1,500. It’s a night of
entertainment and a terrific way to raise money for the Thames Valley
Children’s Centre, an association with the saying: “Raising hope and helping
children reach beyond disability.”
The Hulls and Hunters will be joined by London track Olympian Damian
Warner, London Knights star Bo Horvat, London Lightning coach Micheal Ray
Richardson, and the master of ceremonies is sports broadcaster Rob Faulds.
For the celebrities it’s a full day of activities:
The We’re All Stars celebration brings together the young stars
of Thames Valley Children’s Centre with the stars of sport for a day filled
with fun, smiles and inspiring stories.
The night includes one-on-one interviews with the stars, a ceremony to
recognize the Beyond Disability athlete of the year, introductions of the top
high school athletes in the London area (Spectra nominees), plus a live auction
and an extensive silent auction with a wide array of donated items to bid on.
It’s not too late to donate to this auction table (See the website, email: event@childhealth.ca or dial
226-377-6175) or in another capacity to this important annual benefit.
Thames Valley Children’s Centre supports over 7,400 children and youth
across Southwestern Ontario with physical disabilities, communication
disorders, developmental delays, and autism spectrum disorders. TVCC is a
non-profit, community-oriented centre providing assessment, diagnosis,
consultation and therapy to help young people reach their potential in terms of
independence, self-esteem and participation in society.
Bobby Hull, by the way, I believe was the first NHLer to earn five
50-goal seasons and he accomplished the feat in an era when 30 goals was a
remarkable season. Bobby Hull -- knows as 'The Golden Jet' -- collected 610 NHL goals and 303 more with the WHA’s
Winnipeg Jets.
Dennis Hull might be the top key-note speaker on the sports celebrity
banquet tour. Not only did he play for Team Canada in 1972, his career included
303 NHL goals in just under 1,000 games with Chicago and Detroit from 1964-78.
Dale Hunter is the majority owner and president of the London Knights,
and its head coach with over 500 regular-season wins in the OHL. The
53-year-old former head coach of the Washington Capitals is the only NHL player
to ever earn more than 1,000 points and 3,000 penalty minutes. The Knights are
back-to-back OHL champs and winners of the 2005 Memorial Cup.
Mark Hunter, who is the Knights (www.londonknights.com) general manager and part-owner, won a
Stanley Cup with the 1989 Calgary Flames. His NHL career began in Montreal and
included stops in St. Louis, Hartford and Washington. He was also a former head
coach of the Maple Leafs top farm team (in St. John’s at the time) in the AHL.
Horvat, who I have nicknamed the Rodney Roadrunner, played for Team
Canada at the recent world juniors in Sweden, was drafted 9th overall by
the Vancouver Canucks, and scored the goal. Horvat had 33 goals last season and
this year has 18+30=48 in just 34 games. The goal, by the way, was the OHL
winner with 0.1 seconds left in Game 7 last spring versus Barrie.
Warner, who is from London, won bronze at the world track
championships in the decathlon in 2013 in Moscow, moving up from fourth after
the first day of competition with personal-best results in both the javelin and
pole vault. Warner was 5th at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,
England.
Richardson has coached the Lightning (www.lightningbasketball.ca)
to back-to-back NBL of Canada titles.
The London sports celebrity event is always a terrific evening. It’s
when attending events like the London dinner that I fondly miss the Woodstock
sports celebrity dinner which I was a member of the organizing committee for
seven years.
Mark
Schadenberg, Sales Representative
Senior
Real Estate Specialist (SRES designation)
Royal
LePage Triland Realty
757 Dundas
St, Woodstock
www.wesellwoodstock.com
(519) 537-1553,
cell or text
Email:
mschadenberg@rogers.com
Twitter:
markroyallepage
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