Dawgs to pay tribute to mayor Bill Robertson on July 24

Okotoks mayor Bill Robertson recently passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Photo: Okotoks.ca

July 16, 2021

Official Okotoks Dawgs News Release

Dawgs announce “Tribute to Mayor Bill Robertson Night” at Seaman Stadium

OKOTOKS, ALTA. - The Okotoks Dawgs Baseball Club has announced that the game at Seaman Stadium on Saturday, July 24, which pits the visiting Sylvan Lake Gulls against the host Okotoks Dawgs Red, will feature a “Tribute to Mayor Bill Robertson”.

The Town and the Dawgs Family recently lost mayor Bill following a battle with cancer. Mayor Bill had served continuously on Town Council for over 25 years, five terms as town councilor and more recently, three terms as mayor.

“The Dawgs share in the loss of this incredible community leader. Bill always, always had a smile on his face and sought out the positive solution,” said John Ircandia, managing director of the Dawgs. “As a baseball person when I think of the impact of Bill, I am reminded of that famous line in the Paul Simon song: “where have you gone Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you”. Bill was a modern day Joe DiMaggio in the sense of being a symbol of honest, reliable and hardworking leadership; he was a true friend of the community who will be hard to replace.”

During Bill’s tenure as town councilor and then mayor, the population of Okotoks grew from 10,000 to 35,000 people and a number of state of the art facilities were added, including Seaman Stadium, Tourmaline Field, the Duvernay Fieldhouse, the Ircandia Outdoor Training Center, Conrad Field, the expansion of the Pason Arenas and the Crescent Point Regional Fieldhouse.

The tribute will feature a pre-game celebration of Mayor Bill Robertson with family and friends.