Feb. 28 / 08

By Guy Bertrand
Times Sports Editor

The stars will be out this summer for the Trail Smoke Eaters Alumni/Jeanie Lenardon Memorial ALS Fundraiser.

The list of hockey celebrities at the annual banquet and golf tournament is expected to be as long as the event's name, which will help raise funds for ALS, amytrophic lateral sclerosis, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Smokies president Tom Gawryletz said the head table will feature a bevy of guests from the world of professional hockey.

"We don't want to throw too many names out until we get them all confirmed," he said.

However, he did confirm that Brian Burke, general manager of the Stanley Cup champion Anaheim Ducks and goaltending legend Cesare Maniago have already confirmed they'll be coming along with Canuck scouts and former players Harold Snepts and Ron Delorme.

Organizers are pretty confident the likes of Steve Tambellini, Bob Nicholson, Dave Nonis and even Pat Quinn will make an appearance.

"These guys all met during the World Junior A Challenge and had such a great time," said Gawryletz. "They all said, 'If the golf tournament goes we're coming.'

"I believe we're going to have a head table of as many as 10 well-known hockey figures."

The event combines a banquet one night followed by a day of golf has become a major part of the Smokies' fundraising.

"This is our fourth year. It started off with the Best Western Terra Nova, it was one of Brian's (Lerose) ideas. We generated, in the four years, close to $100,000 for the hockey club. It's by far our biggest fundraiser."

Best Western Terra Nova and AM Ford are leading the sponsor ship support and the ALS will be a big benefactor.

That idea came from Norm Lenardon, whose wife Jeanie passed away due to ALS. Lenardon and son Tim were honoured as guests at last year's banquet.

Right after the event, Lenardon approached the Smokies about, tying in their event with ALS fundraising.

"I think it's a great tie in for the Smoke Eaters club," said Gawryletz.

Lenardon said Burke's close attachment to his wife Jeanie made it easy for the Ducks GM to confirm his appearance.

"Brian Burke is coming in memory of my wife," said Lenardon.

ALS affects two in 100,000 people at any given time. Most die from ALS two to five years after diagnosis and its causes are unknown.

The Smokies hope that with the star-studded list of guests, hockey fans and supporters of the ALS Society will come out to help the cause.

"Originally we were gearing up for about 400 people but we already have commitments from 144 golfers," said Gawryletz. "So we decided to jack it up to 500 and that will be our goal."

More details to follow ...