Golden Jet gets a royal honour

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 13/07/2012 (5019 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

MEMORY LANE: As people streamed down the aisles of Crescent Fort Rouge United Church for former mayor Bill Norrie’s funeral Wednesday, I couldn’t help but think of another scorching-hot day in that church in 1955. I was the flower girl, age five, and very excited. My cousin, Helen Scurfield, looked like a fairy-tale princess and handsome Bill Norrie was her Prince Charming. I couldn’t have been prouder in my rustling floor-length pink dress. After the wedding, we went to the University Women’s Club and had a big party out on the lawn by the river. I got to take off my new sandals and run around on the cool, green grass with my brother, John, two years younger. Back in Manitou, I played princess in that taffeta flower-girl dress until it wouldn’t do up anymore, and it hung in my closet until I left home for university at 17. To me, Helen and Bill were a kind of royal couple — gracious, kind, brave, travelling the world — and in my opinion, they never changed. The funny stories told about Bill at the funeral by his grown-up grandchildren charmed everyone listening — although it took some stamina to sit there. About 1,000 people came out in 42 C noontime weather (with the humidex), were offered bottles of water in ice hampers at the door and told St. John’s Ambulance was standing by in case of emergency. I didn’t see anybody leave.

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QUEEN SURPRISES HULL: Former Winnipeg Jet Bobby Hull couldn’t have been more surprised when they herded him onstage in his post-fishing clothes Wednesday night to accept a Diamond Jubilee Medal from Sen. Rod Zimmer, representing Queen Elizabeth II. It was an exciting moment at the sixth annual Steen Foundation Charity Auction at the Canad Inns Polo Park, preceding the big golf tournament Thursday at Glendale Golf and Country Club. Looking startled, Hull stood there in his navy T-shirt and fishing pants, receiving the medal. He finally took the mike and said, “I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Something always happens to me when I come to Winnipeg!”

A few minutes later he told yours truly, “If I’d have known this was going to happen, I’d have worn a (bleeping) suit and tie!”… People seeing Hull in the light of the podium wondered if the former Jet had been in a fight and gotten the worst of it — but it was serious sunburn instead. “I just spent two days fishing and I didn’t have a hat!” he explained.

Zimmer said Hull distinguished himself, not just by the way he played hockey, but by the way he gave back.

“He encouraged thousands of kids to play. He was always more than happy to sign autographs for them and talk to them. He never turned one kid away.”

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BARBECUE GOING SOUTH: Barbecue competitions, offering big cash prizes and operating on Kansas City rules are a huge trend in the U.S. Winnipeg chef Craig Guenther travelled south with a pit crew of chefs to take on the Weston Sizzler competition this weekend in Weston, Mo. “I’m called the Pit Master and I’m putting a team out there called Ruby Red’s Kansas City Barbecue Cooking Team,” Guenther explains. “Everybody comes in campers and parks on the sites where they’re cooking. I’m Team 31. They took on one more because they were so excited about a Canadian team wanting to come down.”

Guenther is well-known for his talents, working at Urban Prairie Cuisine Catering out of the Winnipeg Winter Club. He’s cooked, on a team, for Queen Elizabeth and won bronze with the Manitoba team at the the World Culinary Olympics in 2000. Joining him on this adventure are Bonfire Bistro’s Randy Khounnoraj and Jason Dornbush, the chef and owner of the Riverview Cafe, plus his son, Everett Guenther, acting as cook’s assistant.

“Every half-hour we have to present a new meat dish, judged on taste, appearance and presentation. The team with highest points becomes grand champion. There are $9,000 in prizes, and first prize is $1,500. I have a few rubs and sauces and secrets up my sleeve.”

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MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR: About 20 of Winnipeg’s movers and shakers in the hospitality industry hopped aboard a tour of West End businesses and eateries Tuesday, hosted by West End BIZ executive director Gloria Cardwell-Hoeppner, and the city’s events and film head honcho Kenny Boyce, with mural guide Susan Beck commenting on murals in the area. Spotted on board: the Fort Garry Hotel’s Ashley Kozak and Autumn Hunter, the Fairmont’s Glenda Bruyere, the Radisson Hotel’s Tracy Dundeneau, Delta Winnipeg’s Susan Moshenteo, Place Louis Riel’s Yusus Kacamak, the Norwood Hotel’s Rowena Faustino and Fairfield Inn & Suites’ Shelley Rowse.

Got tips, events, sightings, unusual things going on? Call Maureen’s tip line at 474-1116, email maureen.scurfield@winnipegfreepress.com, or send letters to Maureen Scurfield, c/o The Insider, 1355 Mountain Ave., R2X 3B6.