![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Jeff-McWhinney-with-Grey-Cup-450x800.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nEARL GREY \u2014\u00a0Jeff McWhinney\u2019s timing was, to suit the occasion, perfect.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Winnipeg-based McWhinney \u2014 the keeper of the Grey Cup, which is on loan to the reigning CFL champions \u2014\u00a0called my number just as I was parking outside the Earl Grey Curling and Skating Club on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He was interested in the latest stop on the Roughriders\u2019 wide-ranging Grey Cup Community Tour.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s poetic, because it tells a great story,\u201d he said of the visit to Earl Grey. \u201cIt\u2019s timely and timeless at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n
What could be a better fit?<\/p>\n
The familiar trophy \u2014\u00a0commissioned in 1909 by the fourth Earl Grey \u2014\u00a0was coming home, in a sense, during a year in which the village that carries his good name will celebrate its 120th anniversary. (The milestone will be observed on July 27.)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Earl-Grey.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
\u201cWhenever we get a chance to display the Grey Cup, we take it in, because it is good for our community and good for Earl,\u201d Leila Mohr, the mayor of Earl Grey, said with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Riders phoned and said, \u2018Can we bring the Grey Cup out?\u2019 We said, \u2018Absolutely!\u2019 From 3 to 5 in the afternoon, there\u2019s a lot of kids after school, but everybody made the time to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Individually, or in groups, people met Roughriders receiver Dhel Duncan-Busby and had pictures taken with the Grey Cup.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Earl-Grey-1-598x800.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Once that was done, many of the visitors stuck around and had coffee or a snack in a popular canteen that is adjacent to the skating rink.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do have our community hall, which is a great place, but we just thought there would be more togetherness here,\u201d Mayor Mohr said. \u201cWe\u2019re set up to serve people here.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still our curling season and we have refreshments available here, so we just thought this would be a more suitable venue.\u201d<\/p>\n
It was, to revisit a term we used earlier, perfect.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis definitely has a homey vibe to it,\u201d Duncan-Busby said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s kind of chilling out by the tables.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels familyish \u2014\u00a0kind of the way it was on our team, too \u2014\u00a0so it\u2019s really cool. You can definitely feel the family vibe here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Especially in the case of Justine McKinstry and her two sons. Emmitt (four years) held his brother Leo (10 months) while they were photographed by the Cup.<\/p>\n
Leo looked dashing in a little Riders jersey that, once upon a time, belonged to his brother.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur oldest one has already been to a few Roughriders games and he loves to watch football,\u201d McKinstry said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s pretty cool that the Grey Cup is out here. In all of Saskatchewan, everyone is a diehard Rider fan. In a small town, something like this is extra cool.\u201d<\/p>\n
Only in a small community would you find the mayor working behind the counter as people ordered coffee, soft drinks, hamburgers \u2014\u00a0I took one home for my wife, who loved it \u2014 or various other tasty snacks.<\/p>\n
On a table in front of the canteen, there were complimentary delectables in the form of football-shaped brownies (with green icing) and Rice Krispie treats with green chocolate frosting.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Grey Cup was coming, so I had to make sure we had something ready,\u201d said Brittany Ludwar, who prepared the treats. \u201cWe knew everyone would be in green because of St. Patrick\u2019s Day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The green-themed Grey Cup celebration is the fifth in Roughriders history.<\/p>\n
When Saskatchewan won its first title, in 1966, the 29-14 championship-game victory over the Ottawa Rough Riders was witnessed in person by Robert Leith (Dinny) Hanbidge.<\/p>\n
Hanbidge, who was Saskatchewan\u2019s Lieutenant Governor from 1963 to 1970, was a player with the Regina Rugby Club \u2014\u00a0the forerunner to the Roughriders \u2014 during its inaugural season (1910).<\/p>\n
The Lieutenant Governor is a provincial representative of the monarchy. Nationally, that role is performed by the Governor General of Canada.<\/p>\n
Albert Henry George Grey \u2014\u00a0the 4th Earl Grey \u2014\u00a0served in that capacity from 1904 to 1911.<\/p>\n
Governor General Earl Grey and Prime Minister Sir Wilfrid Laurier were present in Regina\u2019s Victoria Park when the Province of Saskatchewan was inaugurated on Sept. 4, 1905. Three days earlier, Saskatchewan \u2014\u00a0previously a part of the North-West Territories \u2014\u00a0had become a province.<\/p>\n
Long a supporter of sport, Earl Grey sought to honour a champion in the fashion that Lord Stanley of Preston had commissioned a cup that would be awarded to a pre-eminent hockey team.<\/p>\n
The Stanley Cup was first presented in 1905. Initially, Earl Grey had intended to honour an amateur hockey champion, but Sir H. Montagu Allan was of the same mindset. Hence the Allan Cup, which was donated in 1908.<\/p>\n
Just as well, Earl Grey figured, and his attention turned to the gridiron game.<\/p>\n
Engraved on the sterling-silver trophy, which cost $48, are the following words:<\/p>\n
PRESENTED BY<\/p>\n
His Excellency Earl Grey<\/p>\n
FOR THE AMATEUR RUGBY FOOTBALL CHAMPIONSHIP<\/p>\n
OF CANADA<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was done in a very theological way, to have the eternal champion,\u201d McWhinney explained. \u201cIt\u2019s the chalice \u2026 the holy grail. That\u2019s where it came from. They wanted something that was replicating the eternal athlete.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our gratitude, as football fans, is eternal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EARL GREY \u2014\u00a0Jeff McWhinney\u2019s timing was, to suit the occasion, perfect. The Winnipeg-based McWhinney \u2014 the keeper of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":544896,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[437],"tags":[49,48,521,522,520,82],"class_list":["post-544895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-canadian-football-league","tag-canadianfootballleague","tag-cfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544895"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544895\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544896"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}