Shown is the original event promotion. The new date for the Rotary Club of the Battlefords Centennial Celebration with Col. Chris Hadfield will be Oct. 22, 2021. (File photo/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

Rotary Centennial Celebration

Rotary confirms event with retired astronaut Chris Hadfield still going ahead

Oct 12, 2021 | 2:14 PM

Former astronaut Col. Chris Hadfield will finally be landing in North Battleford later this month as part of the Rotary Club of the Battlefords 100th anniversary festivities.

Rotary’s Centennial Celebration was originally scheduled for April 2020, but had to be pushed back to October 2020 due to the COVID-19 situation. It was postponed again to Oct. 22, 2021. The event will be able to proceed this time with precautions in place.

“We’re thrilled. We’re going full steam ahead with it, with some adjustments for COVID of course,” Rotary Centenary event co-chair Warren Williams said. “It’s a celebration of Rotary’s 100 years in the Battlefords.”

The first Canadian Commander of the International Space Station will give two presentations during his visit.

Hadfield will speak to youth at North Battleford Comprehensive High School in the afternoon. To meet restrictions, up to 600 students from the school will be permitted to attend the event in the school’s gymnasium. The event will also have a live-stream component for other schools to take in the presentation remotely.

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Rotary Gala sold out

Then, in the evening Hadfield will be the honourary guest speaker at the sold-out Rotary gala at the Dekker Centre.

He will be addressing 350 business and community leaders at the event.

“That was sold out 10 days from us announcing it, 18 months ago,” Williams said.

All those attending will need to wear a mask and provide their proof of vaccination.

Williams thanked all the sponsors for helping make the centenary celebration events possible.

“We couldn’t do this without the sponsors,” he said. “We have two title sponsors — Innovation Credit Union and Battlefords Tribal Council. And, we have the Hotels Association and a host of other sponsors,” Williams said. “There are about 15 sponsors all in together.”

Williams is looking forward to the big celebration.

“We want to celebrate 100 years of service by Rotary in the Battlefords,” he said. “That’s a momentous thing by any stretch of the imagination. We want to make it something special and memorable.”

He said that is what first prompted Rotary to invite Col. Hadfield to speak at the events.

“One of the tenets of Rotary is we want to support our youth,” Williams said. “We want to give them something they can take away, and get something positive moving forward with that. So there are going to be two presentations by Colonel Hadfield talking to different audiences.”

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow