Prince Albert resident chosen to bear Saskatchewan’s flag at Blue Jays game

On July 30th, Carlton Comprehensive High School principal Dawn Kilmer strode to the infield of the Rogers Centre stadium in downtown Toronto waving the flag of Saskatchewan.

It was so hot on the field that Kilmer could feel the heat burning through her shoes and wondered how baseball players tolerate the turf. The winds were so strong that she had to hold her flag to keep it from violently beating in the air.

But what impressed Kilmer the most was the sound of O Canada being sung at her by 45,000 fans.

“I just can’t imagine being a player when they’re cheering for you. It just must be so special to hit that home run and have people cheering for you because it was so loud,” she said looking back.

“O Canada really teared me up because it was so loud. Seeing your face on the Jumbotron, oh, my gosh, it’s not necessarily a good thing. Camera angles matter.”

Kilmer was one of 13 Blue Jays fans, one from each province and territory, who were invited to attend the team’s home game against the Los Angeles Angels as part of Rogers’ “Baseball Dreams” campaign.

After participating in the game’s opening ceremony, Kilmer and the rest of the flag bearers watched the game with their families from the owner’s box. She said they were “wined and dined” and got to meet Jays great George Bell.

Kilmer, a lifelong baseball fan, had already made plans to travel to Toronto with her family to watch the Jays that weekend. A few days after buying airplane tickets she received word that a Carlton teacher submitted Kilmer’s name to “Baseball Dreams” as an early retirement present and that she was one of the 13 winners.

“I was really surprised,” Kilmer said.

“We changed all of our original plans.”

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