I feel weird when I get credited as ‘the founder of Cannonfest”, because the truth is that Cannonfest is the child of a lot of different people. Greg May, for giving it a home in the first place, and becoming a passionate supporter going forward. Tom Fellrath, for coming up with the name and helping me bring the idea from “backyard cookout” to “fan get together”. Alison Lukan, who has become a driving force that I couldn’t make this happen without. So many others, individually or as groups, have made this event what it is, and of course there’s all of the fans who join us to celebrate our fandom, our team, and our shared passions on a random Sunday in August. (Plus, hey, there’s beer.)
All of that is a very long way of saying that Cannonfest is so much more than one person, and every year our community pulls out all the stops in helping us make something special.
This year is no different, so let’s take a look at some of the folks who will be helping to make this year’s Cannonfest happen.
Jacket Backers: The Jacket Backers have always been big supporters of Cannonfest from the very beginning, and will be helping us raise money for the Blue Jackets Foundation by running raffles, our silent auction, and a return of the 50/50 raffle! You will also be able to check out their tent to talk about the upcoming road trip plans, their new Jacket Backers Foundation and charity work, and sign up for memberships in the team’s official booster club.
The CBJ Artillery: The home of “We Are The 5th Line” and much more, the Artillery will be giving away stickers and wristbands, and may just have some surprises in store for the World Cup Of Hockey kickoff week that you’ll be able to find out about at the event!
Sedona Grace Foundation: Sedona Grace was started by members of the Blue Jackets community, and we are proud to help support their mission of helping families in need care for and properly feed their pets in partnership with Columbus area food pantries. SGF will be offering T-shirts for sale to help raise funds, and will be accepting donations of dog food that they can distribute after Cannonfest ends!
UPDATE: I’ve just been informed that Sedona Grace will also be bringing a Sergei Bobrovsky game used stick from his Vezina campaign, which will be raffled off to support the foundation!
DKM Podcast: The guys at DKM (or Distinct Kicking Motion) have brought their own unique energy to Cannonfest for the last several years, recording a live show, getting the crowd involved with their game shows, and occasionally even subjecting us to their singing. The boys are back again, and promise to have some fun times up their sleeve once again!
Ashley Ware: Ashley’s beautiful art has been a feature of Cannonfest the last two years, and she’s back again with some handmade embroidered art, illustrations, and prints that will be benefiting the #HartnellDown Foundation.
Union Blue Soldiers: The Union Blue Soldiers have been responsible for organizing the “March of the Union Army” through the Arena District for the last three seasons, and they’ll be back at Cannonfest again this year to spread the good word and get fans involved with this fun tradition to open the season.
John Wooten: John has been an unsung hero of Cannonfest for the past few years, helping to organize displays of unique jerseys, CBJ memorabilia, and team history. He’s putting together something new for this year, and we can’t wait to see what he’s got in mind.
As always, we’ll have some unique fan created videos, drink and food specials from our hosts at Dick’s Last Resort, and perhaps a few more surprises…
Want to know more?
Then we’d better see you downtown.