2023 Vanier Cup a success

Our first trip to Kingston for the Vanier Cup Road Tour was well enjoyed.

- 19 of us from Eastern Ontario took a prison bus from Carleton Place with our new favourite driver, Julz.

- We made stops at three microbreweries in Perth, Westport and Kingston. We picked up an additional Santa in the Port.

- Slack night was at the Keg for tasty steak, then a night out at the Merchant where we waited for Pound Salt to take the stage.

- Tailgating was a little quieter than other venues, but the 30 or so Vanier Santas were as always a hit with fans. Two legacy members - Skinny & D.D. made appearances and it was great to see them.

- We didn't use our seats as per the norm, and partook in the newly refurbished beer garden at Richardson Stadium.

- We met a celebrity - Pierre Arsenault, the CEO of Usports Canada. He informed us that 2025 the Vanier will be in Regina, and back in Quebec City in 2026. (2024 is back in Kingston.)

- Some attendees went to the hot tub at the hotel. In related news the hot tub was closed for maintenance on Sunday. 

- Rookie of the Year voting was tight, and two were named - Baby Pom-Pom and Cousin Chris.

3 sleeps newsletter and itinerary

 The table is set for Vanier... UBC Thunderbirds vs the Montreal Carabins! They are 2 strong teams who dominated their opponents last weekend in their respective semi-final games.  Montreal to face UBC in Vanier Cup after downing Western in Uteck Bowl | CBC Sports

 

Been getting some inquiries on the itinerary so though I would share it with you. It is a very similar format to previous years with the added twist of the microbrewery tour on the way down.

 

2023 Vanier Cup Itinerary (subject to change)

 

FRIDAY

10 AM – meet at CP Cdn. Tire Parking lot. Greetings and Salutations, Load and depart

10:45-ish – first stop at Bridgemasters Brewery – Perth, Ontario Home | Taproom + Kitchen (bridgemastersbrewing.com)

NOON – depart for Westport Brewery where we will be having lunch Our Food | Westport Brewing Company . Please have a look so we know what we want and order when we get there to maximize drinking time, ; )

2:15-ish – Depart for Fine Balance Brewery (we had several requests for this place) Brewery & Taproom – Fine Balance Brewing Company. For anyone driving from out of town... we hope to be here for around 3:15 if you wanted to met us there.

4:30-depart for hotel and check-in

5:00-7:29  FREE TIME = shit, shower, and shave to prepare for Slack night

7:30- Meet in lobby, load up bus and depart for Dinner/slack night @ The KEG Kingston

After supper - night out on K Town @ various establishments. Suggestions?

 

SATURDAY

8AM-9AM – arise scrape fur off tongue, get breakfast (I believe it is included at hotel)

10 AM – Load up bus and get ready to depart to Tailgate

10:30 – 12:45 Tailgate extravaganza, Candy cane shooters,  and general debauchery. I will line up some dogs for there but there are supposed to be food trucks onsite.

12:46 – Santas get to seats for game

1PM = kick off for 2023 Vanier Cup!

Post game – meet at bus, load up and head back to Hotel

5PM - ??? Free time. Rinse and repeat Friday night

 

SUNDAY

10 AM… load and depart for home. Straight shot back to CP.

11:45 – unload, goodbyes. Head home to nurse heads

 

HOUSEKEEPING ITEMS

 

• Don’t forget your Santa Suits!!!
• Weather is looking good for Saturday... between 1 and -3. So dress warm but not Quebec City warm LOL.
• Still waiting on a couple rookie bios... please send by end of day tomorrow ; )
• Candy Cane shooters for the group -  Unless there are exceptions, I will go ahead and buy the supplies and food and add the costs to the ticket price?
• Tailgate – I will grab some dogs and buns etc. Just need to source a portable BBQ which I should be able to do.

8 sleeps newsletter

Hey Lads!

 

Greetings Santas one and All. Vanier is so close you can almost taste it! (unless that is just the bile in my gut on the drive home on Sunday). Just a week and a wink from now we will be departing on the first every K-Town Vanier in our Long and Esteemed group’s history. It should be will be a tremendous time. We have an amazing crew with some 30+ Santas attending the game. Not sure if it is a record number but I will leave that to Adam to confirm... he is in charge of the Maths and Vanier History.

I normally would include more pictures below, but J-Rock (Vanier official photographer) dropped his phone in Mississippi lake this past summer : (

Thank God we still have this Vanier Cup Road Tour

 

We have Santas from far and wide... The London Ontario crew will be there with Bells on... and Commander Landers has secured our location and meal for Friday night’s annual “Slack night” at The Keg. Baskin Robbins will be modeling Under Armour’s 2024 line of Evening wear,  I hope. As previously noted, have the epic return of “Robert Loggia” flying in from Halifax and he is bringing some local Santa buds who I am sure can guide us around town. Marcus Warren and Pete are coming as well as Mike “Leisure-Man Dahle” from the 416/905. Tommy “2 Guns” Kohls is back for the Saturday only special, coming in hot from a Golf trip. And it’s looking like a very health crop of rookies this year. In a separate note, I would appreciate if each rookie (or their sponsor) can send me a short Bio,  I will document & share this year’s crop in my next email ; )

 

We have secured seats (like we use them anyway) in the end closest to the beer garden area of the stadium. Tailgate details are a bit secretive but I have been told that during the season for Queen’s games there was one in an adjacent parking lot... I would assume there will be festivities but regardless, we will make out own. Nothing can be worse than the barren nuclear test sight from Hamiltoe many years ago ; )

 

I will work on the final Itinerary over the next couple days... but for those on the bus from CP,  “on Tap” we have a delightful microbrewery tour on the way down to Kingstown. We will meet at CP Canadian Tire Parking lot at 10 AM en route to 3 secret stops with the middle brewery providing lunch. I will send a menu next week so we can pre-order and have it ready and to maximize drinking time. Stay tuned...

As for the actual game...  Unfortunately, the favourite contender (Laurier) was knocked out last week by Western... whom I hate. I do have a buddy with a Son on the team but I cannot Cheers for them. If you want a full recount of last week, pls check this out; 2023 Vanier Cup semifinals set (canadiansportscene.com)

 

We have 4 teams left in the mix; UBC, Western. St. FX, and Montreal