The Grey Cup left the Winnipeg Blue Bombers’ trophy case to tour Canada, stopping in one of Canada’s smallest communities – Deleau, Man. on March 23.
Such rare occurrences usually hinge upon knowing people who know people. The soon to be son-in-law of area family, Dave and Jacquie Doyle, happens to be Riley Marra, Senior Manager of Digital Media for the Blue Bombers.
Scott Phillips, proprietor of the Deleau General Store situated between Souris and Reston on Hwy #2 knows the Doyle family and thus, the cup’s first public viewing in the RM of Sifton was at Deleau General Store on Wednesday morning. Through social media, Barry Lamb on Golden West radio and word of mouth, the word spread quickly and about 80 or 100 people hailing from Brandon, Souris, Lauder, Griswold, Oak Lake, etc. came for a firsthand look at this iconic trophy.
“You can always go to an event, or see it on TV, but to have the Grey Cup, that’s one of the most iconic pieces of hardware in all of Canada. This one is purely Canadian. It’s been around since 1909 and … you don’t get that chance every day,” says Phillips. He enjoyed the camaraderie around the treasure.
From there the huge gleaming cup visited other locations in the RM of Sifton including the municipal office, Oak Lake school, and Oak Lake’s Valleyview Co-op store.
“We had a pretty good hour in Oak Lake School. It was pretty special. A lot of kids knew what it was. they had questions like, ‘what does it weigh, whose names are on it?' just priceless,” says Phillips who accompanied the cup on its Westman tour.
Oak Lake’s Valleyview Co-op store was also a pop-up host of the cup with customers who happened to drop in for milk and eggs, grabbing the opportunity for a photo with the Blue Bombers’ trophy.
The grey cup then headed into green (Roughriders) country to be in Saskatoon Wednesday evening. The cup's tour will end in Victoria, B.C.
“I think they hit it out of the park yesterday at Oak Lake school,” says Phillips. “These kids were so interested and talking football. If that’s the CFL’s mission and goal, they sure got one on the checklist yesterday.”
The Blue Bombers defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats 33–25 in the 108th Grey Cup in the 2021 CFL season. According to Wikipedia, since their establishment, the Blue Bombers have won the league's Grey Cup championship 12 times, holding the record for most Grey Cup appearances of any team (26).
The first Grey Cup was played on Dec. 4, 1909, between the champion teams: University of Toronto Varsity Blues and the Toronto Parkdale Canoe Club. The University of Toronto won the game, 26–6.
