Doug Gilmour, Kevin Lowe — and local sports celebs are expected to be in Lac La Biche on March 3 for the return of the Portage College Student Scholarship Fundraising Dinner.
Gilmour and Lowe, already NHL Hockey Hall of Fame members, will be joined by newly-minted Lac La Biche County Sports Hall of Fame inductees Randy Wowk and Ken Scullion. The night will feature a full-course meal, live and silent auctions, activities, and opportunities to hear from the Stanley Cup ring-holders and the local sporting champions.
Funds raised from the $125-a-seat night will go towards funding internal scholarships and bursaries for Portage students.
The annual fundraising event, which began as a promotion of the college's athletics and academic programs, has been on a hiatus since 2019 due to the global COVID pandemic. College president Nancy Broadbent hopes the event's return will continue the history of community support.
“After a four-year hiatus we are thrilled to bring our community together for a night of good food, and entertainment to raise funds for our students,” said Broadbent. “This event is an important part of our efforts to make a difference in the lives of students, and we hope that everyone will come out to show their support.”
Earlier events, dating back almost two decades helped to create a self-generating endowment fund — the Spirit of Community Partnership — that has helped to raise about half a million dollar. Money from that fund is given out annually to Portage students who "give back" to their community, said Rick Flumian, Portage's manager of Community Relations.
Flumian says the opportunity to provide bursaries and funding support to students — especially in the current economic environment — eases a lot of pressures for the varied demographics the college serves.
"We have young students, returning students, mature, first-generation learners, single parents, and we are all seeing increases in our daily costs — groceries, fuel, shelter," he said. "These scholarships go a long way to help students get through their school year. We see this as a way to help take the pressure off a little for those students."
The fundraising event also helps to reduce pressures on the college's own operating budgets, which have seen provincial cutbacks and freezes over the last several years.
"The community, the support we see from events like this are a helping hand to generate those internal scholarships.," he said.
College officials have a goal of $60,000 this year. Tickets for the March 3 event are now on sale through the college's website. A link to the site can be found in the digital version of this story at www.lakelandtoday.ca.
Gilmour and Lowe had illustrious careers in the NHL, and were opposing characters on the ongoing Battle of Alberta stage between the Calgary Flames and the Edmonton Oilers in the 1980s and 90s.
Lowe, now 64, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020. The elite defenceman played 20 NHL seasons beginning in 1979. He was the Oilers' first-ever NHL draft pick in their first NHL season after seven seasons in the World Hockey Association. Lowe is credited with scoring the Oilers' first regular season NHL goal on October 10, 1979 — on a feed from Wayne Gretzky and Brett Callighen. Lowe played 13 seasons with the Oilers, including five that resulted in Stanley Cup wins. He played for the New York Rangers from 1992 to 1996, earning another Stanley Cup ring in 1994. He returned to the copper and blue for two final seasons to wrap up his playing career in 1998. Since then, Lowe has been the Oilers' head coach, general manager and president of hockey operations for the Oilers. He has also been a manager for the 2002 Winter Olympic Team Canada and the 2004 World Cup.
Gilmour, now 60, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011. He also played 20 NHL seasons, wrapping up his on-ice career in 2003. His NHL career began with the St. Louis Blues in 1982, after three stellar years as a top-scoring devenceman in the Ontario Hockey League. In 1988 he was traded to the Calgary Flames, and was part of the 1989 Stanley Cup-winning roster. He stayed with Calgary until 1992 when he was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he set a franchise record with the club, notching 127 points in his first full season. He earned the Selke Trophy that year for the league's top defenceman, and was second to Mario Lemieux for the league's MVP Hart Trophy race.
Gilmour played with the Leafs until 1997 when he was traded to the New Jersey Devils where he spent a full season. Over the following four seasons he played for the Chicago Blackhawks, the Buffalo Sabres and the Montreal Canadiens, before coming back to the Leafs for the 2002-2003 season. An injury in his first game back cut that season short. He announced his retirement in September 2003. The Leafs retired his number 93 at a special ceremony at the Air Canada Centre in 2009.
The college is no stranger to Stanley Cup winning athletes. Kevin McClelland, a four-time Stanley Cup winner with the Edmonton Oilers, is the head coach of the Portage Voyageurs men's hockey team. McClelland was Lowe's Oilers' teammate from the 1984 to 1990 NHL seasons.
Local Sports Hall of Fame inductee Ken Scullion is recognized for his years of dedication to local boxing and youth activity, along with his support of community events. Randy Wowk was inducted into the Lac La Biche County Sports Hall of Fame for his work with local hockey and baseball and his mentorship role as a hockey official and community supporter.
