A baseball dad had a quick stop at home before watching his son play ball.
Sure, Bob Dunn had plenty to worry about at his Fort McMurray home, but there was no way he was going to miss the celebration the Okotoks Dawgs and the Foothills area was hosting on Friday for his community that is facing the aftermath of forest fires.
“We have been home already, we checked it out yesterday, ” said Bob Dunn, father of Fort McMurray Giant pitcher Ryan Dunn on Friday. “A little smoky but it’s okay.
“We have lived there for 23 years. This was a special night, Okotoks and Edmonton has been fabulous to us.
“An incredible outpouring of support here in Okotoks.”
More than 85,000 people were evacuated when forest fires hit Fort McMurray in May.
The Okotoks Dawgs went beyond being generous hosts for their home-opener against the expansion team Fort McMurray Giants at Seaman Stadium.
They rolled out the red carpet. The Dawgs’ proceeds from the 50-50 sales were donated to the Red Cross for Fort McMurray relief. Some firemen’s boots were also on the concourse of the stadium and were filled with donations.
When all was said and done, the Dawgs and the Foothills community were able to hand over more than $9,000 to the Red Cross.
As well members of the High River Fire Department who went up to the Fort McMurray area to assist with the fires were introduced to the capacity crowd of more than 4,000 people. They received a standing ovation of more than two minutes.
“It was an overwhelming experience,” said High River deputy fire chief Trevor Allan. “It was something that we never anticipated.”
Bob Dunn came to tears as the first responders received their deserved recognition.
“I could not tell you how many times I have teared up in the last few months and I teared up again tonight and I will probably tear up three or four more times tonight,” Dunn said. “You can’t say enough about the first responders. This was an extremely classy opening to this game to honour the first responders.”
Prior to the first pitch, each member of the Giants and the Dawgs shook hands with the first responders.
“They all thanked us, but there were two players from Fort McMurray — I don’t recall their names — and one young fellow was pretty choked up,” Allan said. “He was very grateful and thanked us because his house was saved.
“He thanked us for helping the Fort McMurray firefighters.”
Allan said all of the skills that he has learned over his career — structure, interface, grassfires — were used while he was up there.
“Every situation you faced was different,” Allan said.
Giants pitcher Ryan Dunn said it was an honour to shake the hands of some of the first responders who helped save the community.
“It was an incredible ceremony,” Ryan said. “A lot of emotions tonight.”
At present the Giants are playing their home games at Edmonton Ballpark, home of the Prospects.
In their first game on May 28 at the Ballpark — the Prospects were officially the home-team — it was attended by a WMBL opening day record of 4,720 fans. Many of the fans were from Fort Mac.
While the Edmonton Prospects have opened their doors to the Fort Mac ball team, Ryan Dunn said there is no place like home.
If possible, he would like to see one more opening day at the team’s home park in Fort Mac.
“We are not sure if we will get back yet because there are a lot of other factors,” Ryan said. “I absolutely want to get back there. It would be a really good thing – give something back to the people of Fort Mac to take their minds of things.”
