[SkateDC] Plans for Canada Benefit Concert Unveiled [Off Topic]

[George Marinkovich]

PLANS FOR CANADA BENEFIT CONCERT UNVEILED
By Hildegard Johnson, Canada Tomorrow

VANCOUVER — Canadian natives William Shatner, Céline  Dion and Alex Trebek will be among the artists to participate in a massive global telethon this week that aims to raise funds to help with the devastating lack of snow expected for the upcoming XXI Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver.

Dubbed "Snow for Canada" the fundraiser will take place this Friday (2/12) and comprise events in Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington, DC.  Actor William Shatner will host the L.A. proceedings, Dion will set up in New York City, and Alex Trebek will be on the ground on Cypress Mountain near Vancouver, according to a press release.  

Cypress Mountain,  where
 snowboarders and freestyle skiers will soon be competing for Olympic
 gold, has been plagued by January temperatures which were the warmest on record.   That trend is continuing this month, says Environment Canada meteorologist Matt McDonald, one of 30 forecasters working the Winter Games.

Gary Doer, Canada's Ambassador to the United States and host of the event in Washington, DC, has put out the call for volunteers.  He urged area residents to gather at Andrews Air Base at noon on Friday to participate in what has come to be dubbed "Operation Snowbird."  Those willing to assist in the massive effort of filling bags with snow will be in great demand and be much appreciated, he said.  Due to a shortage of suitable bags, participants are encouraged to bring plastic bags with them if they can.  "The plastic bags you get your groceries in at Giant are ideal, but even the little ones that the Washington Post comes in can be useful," said Doer.

"Operation Snowbird," the brainchild of
 born-in-Canada comedian Howie Mandel, came together with lightening speed.  "I was reading news accounts about the snow shortage in Vancouver while I was eating breakfast on Sunday morning," explained Mandel, "and by Sunday evening I was in direct contact with the [US State Department's] Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Inter-American Affairs.  Like a snowball rolling downhill, it just seemed to gather more speed and greater mass."  

"Operation Snowbird" represents the first joint humanitarian operation between the 89th Airlift Wing stationed at Andrews Air Base and their Royal Canadian Air Force counterparts, the 429th Transport Squadron and 2nd Air Movements Squadron based in Comox, British Columbia.  While the final plans are still being worked out, it is believed that the operation will involve at least two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in the snow lift.  Sgt. Rex Preston of the
 RCAF estimated that each of the huge Boeing-built transports could hold approximately 17,000 of the Giant grocery-sized bags or up to perhaps 50,000 of the smaller Washington Post-sized ones.  Sgt. Preston explained it was difficult to be more precise about the number of smaller bags that can fit in the huge transports because, as he put it, "so much depends on where you tie the knot."  

Once the snow reaches Canada, the bags will be ripped opened and the contents loaded onto a fleet of specially fitted Sikorsky S-64 helicoptors provided by Erickson Air-Crane.  For 40 years the company, headquartered in the Yukon province of western Canada, has dispatched its fleet of
helicopters around the world to fight forest fires, harvest timber and
lift giant air-conditioning units to the tops of office towers.  "This is the first time I can remember we've ever been involved in transporting snow," declared Randy "Yukon" King, president and CEO of the company.  The company is donating its services to the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee.  "It does seem a bit like carrying coals to Newcastle," quipped King, "but we've pleased to be in position to give something back to Canada."    

Viacom's MTV Networks will produce the two-hour broadcast, which
will air live and commercial free at 8 p.m. ET on ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX,
CNN, BET, The CW, HBO, MTV, VH1 and CMT.  Facebook and MySpace have also
signed on as the official social-media partners for the event,
according to organizers.  Tweets can be tracked on Twitter at #OperationSnowbird.
If everything goes well the first snow will be dumped from the helicopters onto the slopes of Cypress Mountain during the live broadcast.  

Contributions will be accepted shortly at the SnowForCanada.org website.
CT's Washington bureau chief, Fièvre D. Carlingue, contributed to this report.

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Enjoy,
George