Sarah Rennie –
Four area sport stackers are headed to the World Sport Starting Championships, taking place in Orlando, Florida, this spring. An all-ages benefit concert to help raise funds to get them there will take place on Saturday, February 3, at Grove Hall, with a line-up of local favourites and headliners, The Missing Experience Band, with a tribute to the Rolling Sones and Classic Rock.
The idea to hold a benefit concert started out with plans for a small concert between friends and family of the young sport stackers. “Everyone heard about it, and it just got bigger and bigger until we had to rent out a hall,” says Danielle T. Gibbons, whose two daughters, Roxanne and Myriam, will be competing in Florida.
Those performing include David Whyte, Kate Cyr, Daniel McKell and Stewart Burrows. The four stackers will also be on hand for demonstrations and to help anyone interested in trying their hand at sport stacking. The evening will also feature several door prizes including gift certificates for local businesses. “It should be an awesome night,” suggests Gibbons, noting that kids are more than welcome and can take in the show for free.
For Harry Antoine, who works as a physical education teacher at Heritage Elementary School in Huntingdon (on sabbatical), the fact the region is sending stackers to the World Championship is a sign the sport is still alive and well in the region’s schools. “I am proud and happy that it has kept going,” he says of sport stacking. “It is because the kids actually fell in love with it,” he adds, of the challenging stacking game. Antoine, who is largely responsible for bringing sport stacking to the Valley, will also be cheering for his two sons, Cedric and Zeke, as they compete during the tournament.
The Benefit Concert on February 3 is open to all. The evening will start at 6:30 with a stacking demonstration to be followed by a night of great music. Tickets are $20 for adults.
