I hope all of you enjoyed 2008, I can’t believe where the past three years have gone.  Our beloved Big Blue showed some signs but it was obvious something was missing.  At the time of this writing we have a new Head Coach, Mike Kelly , and he has already shown us that changes will be made.  A new quarterback, Stefan LeFors, has been acquired and it looks like our incumbent, Kevin Glenn, will be moving on.  In spite of the team’s lacklustre performance, the community - both corporate and general public – is supporting them at or near record levels. 

The Winnipeg Blue Bomber Alumni’s major fundraising event, the Casinos of Winnipeg – Blue Bomber Alumni Golf Classic, was once again sold out in 2008 and a great time was had by all 160 golfers. Many thanks to the crew of volunteers who helped run the day, and in particular I’d like to give a special acknowledgement to Orest Yakimischak, who lost his hard-fought battle with cancer in December.  Orest worked tirelessly over the years to make the tournament a success, and we’ll surely miss him.  A big thank you also to Casinos of Winnipeg, Boston Pizza, the Winnipeg Football Club, and the many hole sponsors and prize donors without whose support there wouldn’t be a Bomber Alumni Golf Classic.  The generosity of all these individuals and companies allows us to continue to stage one of the most popular events on Winnipeg ’s charity golf tournament circuit, and to support our charities of choice – The Never Alone Foundation and The Think First Foundation.

In spite of the golf tournament’s success, one problem has become clear - we need more committee members. I have shared my concerns with incoming Alumni President Dave Vankoughnett , and have recommended increasing not only the golf tournament committee size, but also that of our Alumni executive.  hat recommendation is a direct result of discussions held over the past year involving every CFL Alumni President.  The purpose of those discussions was to establish a national Alumni Association, and  I am both excited and proud to say that we have now successfully established the Canadian Football League Alumni Association (“CFLAA”).  More information on the CFLAA is found elsewhere in this newsletter, but its goals are to provide an oppoortunity for enhanced Alumni fellowship and more importantly, an opportunity to help some of our former teammates and/or opponents who have encountered hardships.

The Winnipeg Football Club continues to be one of our greatest supporters.  The Club continues to provide home game tickets for those Winnipeg Blue Bomber Alumni members “in good standing” (some restrictions apply) as an incentive for each of you to come out and support the team when they play at home.  The Club also provides a pair of game tickets for each of the 160 golfers attending our Golf Classic.  In return, very little is asked of the Alumni.  Our executive recently met with Bomber CEO Lyle Bauer , and together we agreed that the time is right to take further steps to strengthen the relationship between the Alumni and the Club.  The first step will be some changes to the ticket incentive program, designed to generate encourage all of us to attend more Blue Bomber events.  I encourage all of you to take these invitations to heart, and I hope our attendance is much better than that of last year’s Legacy Reception.

Reflecting upon these last three years brings a smile to my face.  Thanks to all of you for your support.  Working on the Alumni Executive with Dave Vankoughnett , Jayson Dzikowicz and Cathy Garski has been a tremendous experience.  The Bomber Alumni  organization is in very capable hands, and I’m looking forward to the progress they will make on the new executive.

On behalf of the Alumni I would like to express our appreciation to Trevor Druxman and the Pemby Draft House for his generosity in hosting our Alumni annual general meeting.