Warbirds Host 1st Annual Pre-Season Charity Carnival

When Greg Ezell took the position of general manager, he made a conscience effort to make the season ticket holders involved in pre-season, season and hopefully championship activities.

"The season ticket holders are one, if not the, most important group of fans to us. They are the ones who come here game after game with the dedication and passion that we carry over onto the ice. These guys and girls are our 7th man on the ice."

Keeping true to his word, Ezell and the Minnesota Warbirds have held a few events for season ticket holders up to this point. The first event was sponsored by Pepsi and had Team Warbird, which consisted of Ezell, Chris Bell, Chris Coogan, Matt Mahoney and Priscilla Williams, taking on season ticket holders throughout Fort Snelling.

The second event was held at Chez Bananas. This event was a sit down, formal dinner where the players were announced to season ticket holders. There was an auction which saw items such as Priscilla Williams' pink skates, Adam Stevens' helmet and orange visor and an autographed Reaper stick by Bell and Williams being sold to fans and proceeds going to charity.

The event, however, didn't keep its formality for very long as the team held a Karaoke session in which their are incriminating video of Ezell signing Rebel Yell by Billy Idol.

The third event saw the Warbirds host a fishing tournament.

"These events were spectacular, but they will be small in comparison to what we have cooked up for the upcoming event, which is not only for season ticket holders, but to all fans. Those events were strictly for the season ticketers because we wanted to thank them for 5 years of undying support and love. This even is for all the fans."

Ezell said in a short interview before the announcement of the 1st Annual Warbirds Pre-season Charity Carnival!

The newly built Frank Barron Pavilion was open to season ticket holders, fans and media as the event kicked off.

"It's great because you always want to give back to the community," said Minnesota Warbirds winger Sawyer Withers. "And everyone is involved, not only are we giving back, we're having a lot of fun doing it," he said.

For sure, the Minnesota Warbirds Charity Carnival is a day of fun, filled with interactive events, including locker room tours, autograph sessions and photo opportunities, and in attendance was the entire S6 Minnesota Warbirds team.

"Honestly, this is what it is all about," said captain Miika Kemppinen. "We're interacting with the fans, taking pictures, signing autographs and we even have a Rock Band competition going!"

The charity-driven carnival fun began with the VIP session in the morning, located in Legends. Fans had the opportunity to have memorabilia autographed by their favorite Minnesota Warbirds players and coaches.

The auction event held some great items for fans to bid on. There was a replica S4 Wilen Conference championship banner, some sticks and skates signed by players, Robi Albert and Patrick Walford autographed mask and pads, Greg Ezell donated some autographed gloves from the S4 finals and the popular item was a pair of the new Warbirds jerseys autographed by the team.

The event continued throughout the day with two more sessions filled with carnival-type games (like the always popular "strong man" and "wheel of chance") and interactive activities like video game sensations Dance Dance Revolution and Rock Band.

The Rock Band competition, which was sponsored by Harmonix, lets fans play against players from the Warbirds to see if they can beat them in a virtual concert.

"It is pretty intense," Said a sweating Chaz Hooker, who just finished a 3-song set including Battery by Metallica, Let There Be Rock by AC/DC and Master Exploder by Tenacious D. "Some of these kids are really good!"

The Warbirds had 2 teams that cycled between playing with the fans. The first team was Hooker on bass, Scott Edmonds on guitar, Ryan Sassman on vocals and Dylan Withers on vocals. The second team, which did score better, saw Adam Stevens on guitar, Patrick Walford on the drums, Jamie Shimbashi on the bass and Priscilla Williams leading the vocals.

"I think this event is fantastic and the Rock Band tournament makes it that much better," Said Walford who watched the first squad play against a team of fans. "Everyone seems to be really into it."

Most of the activities featured a Birdz' skater or coach, and children of all ages were able to challenge their favorite player in physical games like ping pong (Robi Ablert) or knock-hockey (Eric Baily), play video games with Zac Abrams (Dance Dance Revolution) or Chris Coogan (Guitar Hero), or enjoy a tour of the Warbirds new locker room with head coach Kristian Marosi.

The Carnival is the first of many that will be hosted by the Warbirds.

"We're so happy to have done this for the fans and for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation." Ezell said at the media table.

The mission of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, a nonprofit donor-supported organization, is to assure the development of the means to cure and control cystic fibrosis and to improve the quality of life for those with the disease.

"I had a great time." Said Eric Baily.

This will become an annual event at the Frank Barron Pavilion and should generate a lot of money towards fighting Cystic Fibrosis.