sharksfest

Hammerheads Participate in
Sharks Fest

2000 Pacific Bell Sharks Fest Report

On Sunday, February 27, an estimated 60 Hammerhead volunteer workers made their way down to the Arena for a day of Sharks and fanfest. SharkFest 2000 had arrived. The maximum 1000 tickets were sold for the VIP session that ran from 11:00 am to 1:30 pm. Then the doors opened for the general session that ran until 4:30. In all, over 3000 attended this year's festivities.

As usual, there were many things to keep the fans busy. Besides player photograph and autograph booths, patrons found players like Owen Nolan, Bryan Marchment, Mike Rathje, and Scott Hannan ready to match prowess with them at the Bubble Hockey location. Others could play a round of Sony Playstation against Brad Stuart or Niklas Sundstrom. To keep the crowd amused while waiting in the long lines, Sharks radio color guy, Drew Remenda, doffed his turban for a spin as the fortune telling "Y2 Drew". He also took over Regis Philbin's job as quiz show host for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire", featuring Shawn Heins, Tony Granato and Steve Shields. Each player had a young co-contestant who was eligible to win prizes based on their player-partner's expertise in hockey trivia. Mike Ricci, Patrick Marleau and Ron Stern sat on the "Tonight Show" couch for a round of Q & A.

Besides player-driven locales, SharkFest also offered such activities as carnival games and food courts, along with the Mystery Bags sold by the players' wives and girlfriends. One corner of the Arena floor was set aside for patrons to take their best "shot on goal" on the real Tank ice. Air Shark did spins around the Arena, dropping valued balls that could be redeemed for prizes. This was successful until Air Shark decided to go its own way, sending workers scrambling around along with the engineering staff to recapture the escaped fish. That other escaped fish, SJ Sharkie, was an ongoing presence during the festivities. As with most events of this magnitude, there are some things that don't quite go as planned. But every year, there seems to be fewer of them. From talks with workers and patrons, this year's event seemed to be the most successful yet, in both satisfaction and money raised for the Sharks Foundation.

1999 Sharks Fest Report

About 60 Hammerheads reported for duty on Sunday, March 14 as volunteers for Sharks Fest. While there were a few glitches during the day, the event overall was a great success. People attending the event walked away with autographs, pictures, and prizes gained from the days' events. At the end of the day, the volunteers were exhausted, the organizers were relieved and the players set loose. Another Sharks Fest completed. Time to start planning the next event!