| Canadian Progress Club Progression On-line |
February 2002 |
Great Plains Region |
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| Saskatoon
Downtown: Life as President of CPC Saskatoon Downtown can be pretty good at times. What with all the Royal Visits, the Cuban cigars and adulation being thrust upon you from politicians and small children, it doesn't get much better. But there are those times…
I called up the WDM and was informed that the facility was under new management, and that we were stacking so many people in the hall, there was potentially a fire hazard. And in addition, they wanted to start serving their own food. Even the Deputy Fire Chief called to inform me that we would have to limit the amount of guests in the hall by about 150. After I tried unsuccessfully to piece him off with a $20 bill ("Hey, man you didn't see nothin'"), I knew we had a problem. First was the issue with the food. If any of you have ever come to Saskatoon, you know that one of our members, a little round fella named Nino, takes care of our gastronomic delights. And besides, our patrons, we felt, had built up a fairly decent tolerance to the lasagna we served. ("No, the vegetarian lasagna is the one with the meat on it. The regular lasagna is the one without the meat.") We knew that if we were to find a new place to host our Comedy Night, Nino might have to be cut out of the action. Secondly, where were we going to host 600 people and not pay an arm and a leg? One of our members, Glen, besides being a midnight male model (for women, not for other guys, although there's nothing wrong with that) represents a food services company. He knew of a place called the Manhattan. Once again for those of you who have ever lived in Saskatchewan, (and that would be approximately half of Alberta), the place is a landmark. Manhattan is a Cree word meaning, "I'm pissed, let's square dance." Built in the middle of bald ass prairie by Hutterites in the late 1800's, the place originally served as a brothel until the 30's when it became a Dairy Queen, and then a dance hall. In the 50's and 60's people living in Saskatoon could tune in afternoons and watch Saturdays at the 'Hat. The program was good, although it was difficult to see the people dancing through the clouds of blue smoke and the haze created by too much Hai Karate cologne. It was sort of like watching Lawrence Welk, but not as edgy. The lady who ran the hall was D'reen, a fairly well known caterer in Saskatoon. She said we could have the hall for the same price as the WDM, but she would have to serve the food. Phil Klein and I went to check it out and thought it was "rustic" enough for our patrons. We got Merriman, Nino's best friend, to break the news to him about not being able to serve the food anymore. Nino took it surprisingly well, but nonetheless raised our drink prices by a buck and reconfigured the VLTs to pay out even less than they had before. So now we had the hall and the food booked. Could we get the customers to come out? Then the miracle happened. When we brought this forward to the club and asked for volunteers to chair the event and be the ticket chairman, hands started going up. Members of our club, seeing the bind we were in actually volunteered to help set up and sell tickets, not just hang around behind the bar the night of the show and teach each other how to "free pour". It was a scene out of a Frank Capra film. (Sure we'll help ya, George. The tickets are in your house, and in Fred's house, and in John's house. Well, somebody get me the friggin' tickets so we can sell them!) Off to the races the boys went. Well the big night came, and the boys managed to sell out the joint. The food was great; the venue, with the exception of the parking issues worked out very well. And we managed to sell more tickets than we ever had, raking in a record profit. The point is, as the adage goes, a change is as good as a rest. We had been used to the way things had always been done and had to some degree become complacent with the event. After we were forced to make the decision as to whether or not to have the event at all, it sort of lit a fire in the guys. A lot of guys helped this time around. A lot more took responsibility, and the event became even better. Our April Comedy Night is booked for the 19th. And the guys are already looking forward to it. Special thanks to the ladies of CPC Saskatoon Meewasin who turned out in great numbers to help make our event a success. We appreciate how they watch out for us and call the cabs to make sure we get home safely. And remember-and this is a lesson that I forget at times as well-it's not what hand gets dealt to you, but how you deal with it, that counts.
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Take
for example our semi-annual Comedy Night. Things had been moving along
quite smoothly for about 10 years. We had had the event in the same
place; the food was always supplied by Nino's; Rob our agent, booked the
comedians; and tickets sold faster than Tammy Faye Bakker buying
cosmetics at a Merle Norman. Then the call comes from Merriman,
"Hey Couros, you better call the Western Development Museum. I
don't think they want us there anymore."
