Boxers sparring for the Star on 54th on Dec. 2

By Heather Cameron
Taber Times
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

The Spar for the Star on 54th will be held on Saturday, December 2, at the Taber Agri-Plex.

Joel Mills, head of Bam Bam Boxing Club and Executive Director for the Star on 54th, says that the event will be a combined TANGO and Star fundraising event with 10 amateur boxing matches along with a concert and a gala. Spider Entertainment, Mills says, will provide the entertainment. The event, Mills says, will be open to all ages and will cost $45 per general admission ticket with ringside tables costing $1500 per table.

The TANGO Foundation, Mills says, does an annual fundraising gala and rather than do their typical gala at the Taber Community Centre, the Taber Assisting Nations Through Global Outreach (TANGO) Foundation, the Star Society, and Bam Bam Boxing Club will hold a joint event at the Agri-Plex that will have a maximum capacity of 792 people.

“So, I promote boxing events and I usually do one per year in Taber,” Mills said. “I decided that my annual event would be in collaboration with TANGO’s annual event. And then the Star on 54th facility, has yet to host events other than one fundraiser they did in collaboration with TCAPS. So this is kind of our three organizations combined. It’s another new event that the town has never seen.”

According to a flier posted on the Star on 54th page, the Spar for the Star on 54th event will open with cocktails at 5 p.m., a banquet at 6 p.m., boxing from 6:15 to 8:15 p.m., TANGO and a STAR program at 8:15 p.m., and will culminate with a dance led by music from the Saints and Sinners band at 10 p.m. The fighters involved in the boxing event, Mills says, will include Logan Jordan, Colt Jordan, Sarah Jordan, Hunter Fajnor, Riley Kane, Hunter Thomson, Liz Knull, Susie Thiessen, Macka Mills, Alonzo Barron, Nick Barron, Ryan Harkness, and the Heavyweight Showcase: Joel Mills vs. Brent Anderson. On top of that, the evening will include a silent auction and 50/50 draw. If people want to volunteer for the event, Mills says, they can contact the Star on 54th through their Facebook page.

“I think it’s gonna be a very cool event and a very cool feel as far as community goes,” Mills said. “I hope people are excited. I know that people usually support me very much in these events. Thank you so much to our community for always supporting these events for us.”

Mills says that all proceeds from the Spar for the Star on 54th event will go to the Star on 54th and the TANGO Foundation.

“The TANGO Foundation is an organization of professionals in Taber that travel abroad and help when they can, mostly on the medical side of things,” Mills said. “So they travel abroad and they do medical procedures and dentistry and optometry.”

According to the Star on 54th Facebook page, the Star on 54th building project, Mills says, actually came about because the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints donated one of their meeting house buildings from the 1920s to the TANGO Foundation at no charge, as they were an established Canadian charity and were able to receive it on behalf of STAR. Currently, however, STAR has Canadian charitable status. The building, the page says, will house a gymnasium, office spaces, a community theatre, the STAR gym, and a premium 4,500 square foot boxing and fitness centre. 

“Boxing has really taken roots in our community over the last 10 or so years,” Mills said. “And they get quite excited for fights. The vision of the TANGO Society and the Star Society resonates deeply with, helping our town and seeing our town thrive.”