So today was the day. A near 2 hour drive to Cherry Hill, New Jersey and 2 cans of Red Bull later, I arrive at Swanky Bubbles for the 2nd Annual Cote Carnival. I get there at 11am for the noon opening and there’s not much of a line. However, by the time the doors opened at noon, the line had stretched across the parking lot and almost to Evesham Road.
Being the fan that I am, the first thing I did was head for the autograph area. You would too if you heard that Jeff Carter, Ray Emery, Aaron Asham and JVR were going to be there with Danny Briere coming later. But they weren’t alone. They were joined by Andreas Nodl and Pat Maroon. A quick bite and another Red Bull and I run into Riley Cote. We exchange pleasantries and I thank him again for giving me the interview last month. I snap a quick picture of him signing some autographs…
…and I move on to my first short interview with this guy…
If you don’t know him, then you probably haven’t been to a Flyers game in the past 3 years. This is Shawny Hill a.k.a. Dancing Shawny. During the third period of every home game, he gets up and dances to get the crowd going. I ask him if he has some time for a couple questions and he agrees.
First of all, how did you come into the whole Dancing Shawnee thing?
Some of the things, as a fan, you’re always trying to do your part. Whether it’s start a chant or bring a sign. We were losing to the Islanders one time during the season we don’t talk about any more. It was one of those things I saw, most people get up and leave and it didn’t seem like a Philadelphia type thing to do. So, I went down to the empty rows and I did whatever I could to entertain people and keep their spirits up and hopefully we could come back and get something started. So I started dancing and Simon Gagne scored right after that. From then on, the next game they showed me, another good shift and from there on it just kept building and building and then, the organization got behind me a little bit and as long as I kept showing up, they were gonna keep showing me. It’s been magic ever since.
I see you at a lot of the charity events, the Cote Carnival, the Flyers Wives Carnival, are there any other charity events you come out for?
I try to do as many as I can, my parents brought me up to be a charitable guy. Ironically, I was trying to work on my own little charity dance-a-thon or something else. The team’s been so great to me, I want to give back to a couple of the charities I’m involved in. I do a lot of local stuff. With the Flyers I usually do the Flyers Wives Carnival. I go as a fan, but, people want my autograph and everything. Riley and Molly, I contacted them and asked if I could volunteer and they’re very good. So, those are the two big ones. But, whenever I can, I’m always willing. Charity events are fun it’s always good spirited, it’s a great time and in the end you’re helping out people just like when I dance to help out the team, if I can show up somewhere and help out a cause, I’m definitely there to do it.
What’s your outlook for the upcoming season?
We’re definitely going to be a lot tougher team. I was talking a bit earlier that I thought one of the things we were missing last year is feeling that comes into the building when you see the third or fourth line go over the boards and you know there’s gonna be a little chatter before the face-off and you know it’s gonna be a good shift. That’s something we were missing last year. So, you bring in a guy like Chris Pronger and, I liked Ray Emery before and I saw him a little while he was in Russia. Not personally, I saw tapes of him. But I think they got a really solid team. I think the best thing is they have the right mindset, they have the right energy and I think they have the right heart. Maybe a little tweak here and there along the season, I see success. But you really won’t know until you see them on the ice a little bit.
Thanks again, Shawny.
I meet up with some friends from the FMB, so we catch up and watch the Phillies game for a while until we hear that Danny Briere has arrived and he’s signing. It was also around this time that I managed to catch up with the woman behind the man, Holly Cote.
We talk for a little while about the turnout, but she has many things to do so I don’t want to hold her up any more than I have. So, we head over to get Danny’s autograph. By now, the building is full of people. The feeling in there was unbelievable. All these Flyers fans in one place, showing support for one of the boys. The camaraderie in the air was fantastic. I’ve never been in a place where you could turn and look at anyone in the room and just start talking to them, knowing you already have something in common.
There were a ton of giveaways from restaurant gift certificates to Flyers tickets and auctions for some great autographed items like signed jerseys by Chris Pronger, Ray Emery and Riley Cote, signed 8x10s and signed prints. I made a donation for the raffles and while I didn’t win, it’s alright.
I hung around to talk to Riley again after everything was said and done…
I don’t want it to seem like I’m demeaning it in any way, but this was a hot event. This is my first year coming to the Cote Carnival, but, it was impossible moving in here all day.
Yeah, last year we had, I’m not even sure the total numbers, but we definitely exceeded what we had last year. We changed a few things around to get better flow with the autograph signing we had the line up outside to get a better flow into the place. They also let us have more people in the building and it was packed and it seemed like everyone was having a good time. Everything moved more smoothly. We had way more donations for auction items and raffle items, we had a lot of giveaways, Split Decision came back and did an awesome job. My teammates came and supported me, Coach John Stevens came out. The Flyers had my back and everything was awesome so we’re very happy with the way things worked out.
Thank you, Riley. It’s a great thing you do here and is it your Sister that has multiple sclerosis?
(he points her out to me and describes what she’s wearing) She flew in from Winnipeg, Manitoba for the event.
Thanks again, Riley.
Hey, no problem man. Take care.
Classy to the end of what could be described by some as a hellish day.
Once again I want to thank Riley and Holly Cote for taking the time to talk with me about the Cote Carnival. If one person who didn’t know about this great event went becaue of their interviews, “It was well worth it,” as Holly said. Not only for that, but for doing this in the first place. It’s one thing to be effected by a disease like this when it is in your family, but it’s another to step forward and hold an event like this to help find a cure.
Thanks to the Flyers and Phantoms players who came out to support the cause, along with a special, surprise visit by Coach John Stevens. There are a couple more pictures on my FaceBook page (I encourage our readers to look me up) so come have a look. Also, I mentioned I had 6 interviews and I only posted 2 here. Who could they be?
You’ll have to come back to find out. 😉