For months, the Rotary Club of Athabasca has promoted their 2018 Celebrity Dinner and the return of “Hometown Boy” Jay Onrait with a sign on Highway 2 at the town limits.
During his keynote Oct. 27, the Edwin Parr Composite grad turned TSN sportscaster joked the sign likely “killed tourism” for the region.
But his homecoming clearly resonated with Athabasca, as Onrait was still tall enough to bring more than 400 people to the Rotary Club of Athabasca’s biannual event.
One of the event organizers, Rob Balay, said the only guest to bring in a larger crowd was the late hockey legend Gordie Howe in 2006.
“We thought we could get out of here with $40,000 to $50,000,” he said. “We weren’t exactly sure what these economic times could deliver.”
Turns out these economic times can deliver $81,825, as master of ceremonies and Rotary member Gerry Kiselyk said as the evening closed.
Onrait’s talk
Onrait said Athabasca still feels like home to him, even if a lot has changed since graduating from Edwin Parr Composite in 1992.
Many childhood landmarks are the same. New features — like the new $22-million school bearing his alma mater’s name or plans to open a $15-million pool and fitness centre — haven’t changed anything, he said.
“What’s weird is it doesn’t feel that different at all,” he said during an interview Oct. 27 at the Athabasca Regional Multiplex. “We didn’t have a Boston Pizza, though. So that’s kind of nice.”
The keynote address was filled with Onrait’s trademark flippant and self-deprecating humour. A 45-minute speech took residents through his childhood in Athabasca and Boyle, working at his father’s pharmacy and hijinks at local television stations across the prairies.
Many of Onrait’s clips showed his ability to find comedy in the banal, such as when a business demonstrated how to clean ducts while he was a host on The Big Breakfast in Winnipeg.
“Were Winnipeggers that starved for entertainment — they watched duct cleaning in the morning? Turns out they did. We were a huge hit,” he said.
In 2003, he began hosting TSN’s SportsCentre with “a prematurely-greying pig farmer from Peterborough” named Dan O’Toole. He said the pair instantly bonded over their shared comedic timing and irreverent approach to sports.
“Sports is entertainment,” he said. “It’s supposed to be fun and it’s supposed to be fun to watch.”
The duo left Canada in 2013 for a hosting gig on the newly-launched Fox Sports 1. The program was a critical success. Onrait also said talk show host Regis Philbin welcomed the two to Los Angeles with the most American gift he could think of: apple pie and a bottle of Jack Daniel’s.
Last year, Onrait and O’Toole returned north to host TSN’s SportsCentre.
“It’s amazing,” Onrait said in his speech. “We asked for our old studio and wanted to pick our crew and we got all of that. We’re having a blast doing the TV show again.”
Onrait also came to Athabasca bearing retribution for the local Legion.
He said when he graduated from high school, he received the $250 phys ed award. He pointed out although he played a lot of sports in school, he had quit phys ed early on. He also called himself "the dumbest of the smart kids class" who didn't deserve to win any academic awards.
"I felt a tremendous amount of guilt for years. I took $250 from the Legion," he said.
He then pulled out a cheque for $251 — the original $250 plus "interest" — and presented it to Athabasca Legion member Brian Scott.
Pool and fitness centre project
After his speech, Onrait said he was happy his visit home was able to raise money for the new pool and fitness centre project. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in September 2017, and the facility is scheduled to open in February.
The Rotary Club of Athabasca has already contributed $50,000 to the project and has committed to raise $250,000.
“Our existing pool is very old and outdated and I truly believe if you invest in your community, it helps to attract good, qualified people for the businesses that are here,” Balay said. “It helps sustain your community.”
