By SALLY ANN SHURMUR - Star-Tribune staff writer
Aside from the 37th annual Shrine Bowl all-star football game on Saturday night, there is plenty of family fun surrounding the event.
Today, beginning at 9 a.m., is the annual Picture Day, when professional photographs are taken of teams and players. The South team, with players from Glenrock and Douglas, begins its event at 9 a.m., and the North, with players from Casper, will immediately follow, at about 9:30 a.m.
Family and friends of the players are welcome at Dick Cheney Alumni Field at Natrona County High School, and they may take their own photographs. Players will be available to visit with young fans and sign autographs for a short time.
On Friday evening at the Parkway Plaza Hotel, a formal banquet begins at 7 p.m. Each player will be introduced and receive his official Shrine Bowl plaque, as well as other gifts.
Shrine Bowl executive director T.J. Claunch expects a packed house of players' families and special friends to be in attendance.
The evening's guest speaker is Casper's own Lukas Munsell, a Kelly Walsh High School graduate and Shrine Bowl alum, who continued his football playing career at South Dakota School of Mines and Technology in Rapid City, S.D., earning a degree in electrical engineering.
On Saturday morning, Shrine Bowl players' families and friends are welcome at a free Pancake Breakfast from 8 to 10 a.m., sponsored by the Kiwanis clubs of Casper and Cheyenne. The pancake wagon will be set up at the corner of Ninth and Center streets in City Park as a joint welcoming event for both Shrine Bowl and College National Finals Rodeo participants and fans.
The annual Shrine Bowl parade, including Shrine motorized units of every variety and both teams, begins from the corner of Ninth and Center streets at 10:30 a.m.; proceeds north on Center to the triangle corner of Fifth Street; travels east one block on Fifth to Wolcott; and south on Wolcott to Ninth, where it will end.
For those unfamiliar with downtown Casper's geography, the parade route runs along both the north and south the sides of City Park.
At 4 p.m., a tailgate party will start on the west side of NCHS Stadium on Oak Street. Food will be available for purchase, with all proceeds donated to the Shrine Bowl.
The football game begins with player introductions and pregame festivities at 6:15 p.m., and kickoff is at 7 p.m. Tickets are available at the gate for $5 each.
Last year, Claunch presented a check to Shriners for $30,000, the largest profit in the game's history.
Two large corporate sponsors have pulled out this year because of the economy, and Claunch said as a result, profits to the Shriners for use in their children's hospitals will not be as large.
Community News editor Sally Ann Shurmur can be reached at (307) 266-0520 or sallyann.shurmur@trib.com. Read Sal's blog at tribtown.trib.com/Sal/blog and follow her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/WYOSAS
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