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![\"JOHN](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/4540218_web1_260908_Dave_Dech_03.JPG\")
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JOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s nothing but sweet (green) dreams. Dave Dech has converted a bedroom into a shrine for his beloved Saskatchewan Roughriders.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Not only does the married father of two grown sons have 25 Roughriders jerseys hanging in his closet \u2014 at press time, he was still mulling over which one to throw on for Saturday\u2019s tilt \u2014 there is a main-floor lair in his and his wife Patti\u2019s Westwood abode you\u2019ll probably want to avoid if you suffer from prasinophobia \u2014 a fear of the colour green.<\/p>\n
\u201cWelcome to what we lovingly call the Roughriders Room,\u201d Dech says, referencing a 100-square-foot space wholly dedicated to Rider Nation.<\/p>\n
There, dozens upon dozens of team-crested keepsakes are on exhibit; everything from cowbells to cribbage boards to coasters\u2026 even an unopened case of Riders Championship Cola that was marketed by a major grocery chain following the squad\u2019s 2013 Grey Cup victory over the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.<\/p>\n
(Dech points out that the room used to be bright green. Except after adding a bed for guests \u2014 yes, it\u2019s covered with a green-and-white blanket \u2014 he and Patti painted the walls a more neutral shade of tan, in an effort to make it \u201ca little more hospitable.\u201d)<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Dech comes by his love of the Roughriders
Dech, 63, comes by his love for the five-time CFL champs honestly. He originally hails from Regina and was in kindergarten when his father took him to a pre-season scrimmage that pitted the team\u2019s defence against its offence.<\/p>\n \u201cThe game was in Saskatoon and for whatever reason, my dad, who has since passed away, decided we should drive there to watch,\u201d he says, cradling a Roughriders mini football in his hands.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s interesting is that this May during the pre-season, Winnipeg played Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. I made the trip and it felt like I\u2019d gone full-circle, with that being the first occasion I\u2019d seen the Riders play there since I was a kid.\u201d<\/p>\n Dech was nine years old in 1972 when his family moved to Winnipeg from Regina.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Dech has a room full of Saskatchewan
He continued to follow the Riders closely and in 1992, four years after tying the knot, he convinced his Elie-born wife to accompany him to his birthplace for the annual Labour Day showdown between the Roughriders and Blue Bombers.<\/p>\n The Dechs snapped a slew of pictures that weekend, including a shot of their eldest son at 11 months old, sporting green pants, green-and-white socks and a size-small sweatshirt bearing the Riders \u201cS\u201d logo.<\/p>\n Shortly thereafter, they hung the photo on a blank wall in their spare bedroom, steps away from the kitchen. One pic turned into two, two into 10 and before you could say Ronnie Lancaster, they had transformed the room into a family photo album documenting what is presently 34 consecutive trips to Regina for the annual Labour Day Classic.<\/p>\n About 10 years ago, Dech took things to a whole other level by introducing Riders souvenirs to the photomontage \u2014 pieces he\u2019d been scooping up both in-person and from online sources such as eBay.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Dozens upon dozens of team-crested keepsakes are on exhibit; everything from cowbells to cribbage boards to coasters.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \u201cBesides the Montreal Canadiens and Toronto Maple Leafs, I think the best marketing effort by a Canadian sports team is done by the Roughriders,\u201d Dech says.<\/p>\n \u201cThey seem to always be coming out with new stuff for fans to buy and I guess you could say I do my best to keep up.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s not kidding.<\/p>\n Besides officially licensed apparel such as T-shirts, ball caps and scarves, he shows off plush toys depicting Riders mascot Gainer the Gopher and bobbleheads made to look like Roughriders legends George Reed and Roger Aldag.<\/p>\n There are also sports cards from various Riders eras, game-day programs dating back to the 1970s and an intact box of Darian\u2019s Darios, a brand of breakfast cereal unveiled in 2011 in honour of Darian Durant, the Riders\u2019 quarterback from 2006-16.<\/p>\n (Alas, all that remains of a 220-gram bag of All-Dressler Flavoured Potato Chips \u2014 for former Saskatchewan receiver Weston Dressler \u2014 is an empty, ironed-out sack. Its contents are long gone, Dech laments.)<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Lance Hackewich boasts
Saskatchewan is often referred to as the breadbasket of Canada, only another Roughriders fan is giving new meaning to that motto.<\/p>\n Regina native Lance Hackewich has built what experts have described as the largest collection of Riders memorabilia on the planet.<\/p>\n By far the most unique specimen in the 59-year-old Roughriders season-ticket holder\u2019s hoard is a mini-loaf of bread from 1951, the year Saskatchewan lost 24-21 to the Ottawa Rough Riders in the 39th Grey Cup championship game.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what I\u2019ve been told, the Riders cheerleaders were on a float in the Grey Cup parade, held the day before the game, and were tossing loaves of bread out to people lining the street,\u201d Hackewich says, welcoming a visitor to his Riders recess, tucked inside his and his wife Linda\u2019s northwest-Regina split-level.<\/p>\n \u201cMy loaf \u2014 which I\u2019m 100 per cent sure is the only one that\u2019s survived 75 years \u2014 came from a person in Saskatoon who found it while cleaning out his dad\u2019s stuff. He contacted me to see if I was interested and I picked it up in-person a few days later.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Dech, Hackewich has been a Riders \u201cnut\u201d for as long as he can remember. He collected the odd item growing up but got into the hobby \u201cbig time\u201d in 1993 following the birth of his son, Nelson.<\/p>\n \u201cAs soon as he was able to walk, the two of us would attend autograph days at the stadium and put up whatever we had signed. It kind of got out of control from there,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS
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\nhonestly. He was born and raised in Regina.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS
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\nRoughriders paraphernalia that is always growing.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJOHN WOODS \/ FREE PRESS
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tDAVID SANDERSON \/ FREE PRESS
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\nwhat is considered the
\nlargest\u2019s Riders memorabilia collection in the
\nworld.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n