The memory is seared into Bill Hales’ brain.
“I have been a dedicated Roughrider fan from the day my friend dragged me downtown to the Sears store in Moose Jaw to watch the 1966 Grey Cup in colour,” recalls Hales, who on Saturday became the 2025 recipient of the CFL team’s 13th Fan Award.
“I joined a group of kids sitting in front of the biggest colour TV Sears had in stock. I didn’t know anything about the CFL until I saw that game.
“I learned about George Reed, Ron Lancaster, and the rest of the team that I would grow to love.”
Green has been the colour for Hales since Nov. 26, 1966, when Saskatchewan captured its first CFL title by defeating the Ottawa Rough Riders 29-14 at Empire Stadium in Vancouver.
Since 1968, Hales has attended at least one Rider game per year. The streak continued, uninterrupted, even while he resided in Alberta from 1982 to 1999.
A season-ticket member since returning to Saskatchewan 26 years ago, the Regina-based Hales — who grew up on a farm south of Moose Jaw — continues to support his beloved Roughriders in a multitude of ways.
Fittingly, this year’s 13th Fan owns 13 Rider jerseys.
“When I was at the University of Regina leading up to the Grey Cup in 2013, everyone wore a Rider jersey to work every day,” says Hales, who taught technical theatre at the U of R for 22 years.
“I basically had two weeks covered, with a different jersey every day.”
It would have been prudent to wear 13 jerseys at once on Nov. 22, 1970, when the deciding game of the Western Conference Final was played at a snow-swept Taylor Field.
The temperature descended to minus-17 Celsius by the time the Roughriders and Calgary Stampeders began skidding into one another with a Grey Cup berth at stake.
Factor in gusts ranging from 56 to 72 kilometres per hour and the wind chill was into the minus-30s.
“I went to the game with my best friend, Greg Morrison, who had also dragged me to Sears in 1966,” Hales says. “We were two 14-year-olds packed into a sleeping bag. It was the coldest game ever.
“My mother thought I was crazy. I was crazy, but my best friend’s dad was adamant about going to the game and he took us along.”
On other occasions, Hales visited Taylor Field and enjoyed a perfect view of the north end zone.
“I remember sitting in the Rider Rookies section, caged in,” Hales says with a laugh.
“Come on … 50 cents to see a game? You can’t beat that.”
Hales’ passion extends to his career. He has spent 40-plus years working in film and theatre. Call it a labour of love.
“One of the major projects in my theatrical career was joining forces with Colleen Sutton and helping her continue performing her play RiderGirl,” he remembers.
“The director’s sister told me of the play and I drove to Winnipeg to watch Colleen’s performance at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival. On the drive home, I decided to bring the play to Regina to perform at the Artesian, as I knew the play must be performed in Regina.
“I provided the funding to bring the show to Regina and have it performed for the Regina fans. The play sold out and we entered into a partnership that saw the play performed over 80 times in Manitoba, Alberta and Saskatchewan.
“I was the technician for the production and driver as we toured in my 1984 Volkswagen Westfalia. The highlight was a major tour that ended with return sold-out performances at the Artesian during the 2013 Grey Cup week.”
The combination of football and theatre was, from his perspective, ideal.
“Theatre is a lot like a team sport,” Hales notes. “You throw together a group of people who have to come together through the process.
“I love theatre. I love sports. Those two things have a lot in common.”
Spoken like the common man!
“I went into theatre because I’m a better actor than I was a running back,” Hales says.
“I don’t go to the games in a really garish costume and I don’t wear face paint. I’m just a guy who loves to be there and is really loud about it.
“I’m an every-man Rider fan who lives for the game.”
13th FAN AWARD RECIPIENTS
2021: Connie Dobson, Ron Taylor.
2022: Doug Cronin.
2025: Bill Hales.