Grey Cup keeper Jeff McWhinney carries his father's legacy into Calgary's festival week

Jeff McWhinney escorts the Grey Cup to more than 60 events during Grey Cup festival week, always in white gloves. The Winnipeg native has kept the trophy for the past decade, though he did not follow his father onto the field. The street festival is free and runs Thursday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, with a free pancake breakfast each day from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Glenn Simpson "Keeper" McWhinney, a CFL Hall of Famer, died 14 years ago. In 1954 he helped the Edmonton Eskimos, now the Elks, win the Grey Cup, before moving on to the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. His name is engraved on the trophy from that team, at Row 4, Column 7. So is John Candy's, the late TV and film star who co-owned the Toronto Argonauts.

"When you get to a position like mine, it's a love affair," McWhinney said. He calls the trophy "4,098 chapters of one of the greatest history books Canada has to offer." The 34-inch trophy is ready to take 49 more names after Sunday's game.

"People light up when they see it," he said, adding that being part of the week, the game and the festival is "being part of the greatest annual family reunion any sport has ever seen."

That feeling was on display Wednesday evening, when the Suncor Street Festival opened at Stampede Park with a performance by The Trews. Families played on a mini football field and wandered past games and food stalls.

Janice Owen, a nurse from Saskatoon and a Saskatchewan Roughriders fan, is on her 18th Grey Cup. "I've made friends across this great country over the years, and each November we get together again," Owen said. "You might be 'frenemies' during competition, but once the party starts, it's a gathering of friends." She hopes to meet some players at the CFLA players' headquarters at Rooftop YYC, 414 3rd Street S.W., open 3 to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, and 12 to 5 p.m. Saturday.