Domenic Venturo’s parents immigrated to Canada from Avellino, Campania, Italy. Dom is a native Calgarian and proud alumnus of St. Francis High School. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree (First Class Standing) from the University of Calgary in 1982 and his Juris Doctor degree from the same institution in 1985. He was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1986 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 2006. Dom has been a Director with the Calgary Italian Sportsmen’s Dinner Association since 1993 and its President since 2006. He was also President of the Calgary International Film Festival from 2000 to 2012.

Darryl Raymaker was born and raised in Bellevue, Alberta. He graduated from the University of Alberta with Bachelors of Arts and Law degrees.  Darryl was admitted to the Alberta Bar in 1963 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986. Darryl served as Chair of the Calgary Police Commission for a number of years. He has emceed over 40 of our Dinners.

Interview

Interview

Interview

Marco Carducci, Cavalry FC Goalkeeper

Marco Christian Carducci is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC and Canada national team.

First CPL player to get a call to the Canadian National team. Won the 2019 VW Premier Performer of the Year award and the Golden Glove award. Tallied 9 clean sheets in 2019, most in regular season play.

Wayne Harris, UofC Dinos Head Coach

For more than 40 years, Wayne Harris has been involved with the Dinos as a player, alumnus, assistant coach, and most recently defensive coordinator – and he was named the sixth head coach in Dinos Football history on February 12, 2015.

Over the course of his coaching career with the Dinos, Harris has been part of 10 Hardy Cup championship teams and participated in six Vanier Cups (1995, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019), including the 1995 championship season under former head coach Peter Connellan.

Jim Peplinski is a Canadian former National Hockey League (NHL) player. He played ten seasons in the NHL (all with the Calgary Flames) and won the Stanley Cup in 1989. He represented Canada at the 1988 Winter Olympics as a member of the national hockey team.

Peplinski has been recognized on multiple occasions for his charitable contributions, particularly those supporting children. He was named the final recipient of the Charlie Conacher Humanitarian Award in 1984 for his work in support of the Special Olympics and Big Brothers of Calgary. The Flames named him their recipient of the Ralph T. Scurfield Humanitarian Award in 1988.

Jim lives in Calgary with his teen age sweet heart Cathy. They have four adult kids who have also made their home in YYC. Jim built a business after retiring from playing in 1989 with the most well known being Jim Peplinski Leasing which manages commercial vehicle fleets for people across Canada. His business interests are centralized under Properly Investments. He is now focusing on investing in younger people with proven potential to full fill his long time principle of pay it forward.

Rhett Warrener is a native of Shaunavon, Saskatchewan. He played his junior hockey with the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Hockey League. Rhett was selected 27th overall by the Florida Panthers in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft. During his rookie season with the Panthers, he was released to play for the Canadian Junior Hockey Team in the 1996 World Junior Championships. He won a gold medal with that squad. Rhett played in three Stanley Cup Finals with Florida (1996), Buffalo (1999) and Calgary (2004).  Rhett is heavily involved in the community and was awarded the Ralph T. Scurfield Award in 2006 and 2007. Rhett was also the Flames’ nominee for the 2008 King Clancy Memorial Trophy recognizing leadership on and off the ice.

Dean “Boomer” Molberg is the host of Boomer in the Morning on the Sportsnet’s Fan 960 radio.