Rob Harrison, known around the office as a cut-up, is blessed with the ability to toss a lemon in the air and slice it in half.
The fruits of his labour are appreciated in many other ways.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders’ Volunteer and Guest Experience Manager has mastered the art of cuisine while also serving up self-deprecation.
“My wife suggested that I take the dog for a walk,” Harrison says. “I said to her, ‘You know we don’t have a dog, right?’
“I think she just wanted me to get out of the house.”
In all seriousness, though, Rob and his wife Yvonne will commemorate their 41st anniversary on Aug. 20.
“Not long enough for me,” Harrison says, “and probably too long for her.”
Rob and Yvonne are the proud parents of Shianne, 28, and Winston, 21.
Harrison’s extended family includes his colleagues at the CFL team’s business office and a small army of game-day volunteers — the Rider Squad.
The latter group, 200 strong, is to be honoured at the Roughriders’ annual volunteer event on Sunday.
“They are giving us their time and giving us their heart,” an appreciative Harrison says. “It’s very important for us to recognize that.
“The volunteers are from all walks of life, just like our fan base, and they’re wonderful people. Rider games bring society together and the Rider Squad is a microcosm of that.
“I like to refer to them as the team in the stands.”
Or the one on the concourse, outside the stadium, or wherever assistance is needed.
Members of the Rider Squad can be found scanning tickets, offering customer service, helping out with lost and found, or enhancing the pre-game atmosphere at Party in the Park, to name just a fraction of the tasks that volunteers typically perform with skill and a smile.
“My favourite role is to be the trouble shooter,” Harrison notes. “I don’t need a specific title.
“I say to the volunteers, ‘Just let me walk beside you and, if we need someone to fix things, I can make some calls, for better or worse.’
“I also prefer to let the volunteers accept the kudos and let me take the heat.”
On game days, Harrison is seemingly glued to his trusty iPad, which can provide real-time information.
“As we’re scanning people while they enter the stadium, I can actually watch the scan counts live,” he marvels.
The Roughriders were housed in their previous stadium — the former Taylor Field — when Harrison joined the organization in February of 2016 after being a volunteer for three years.
He signed on with the football team as a Transition Account Representative. In that capacity, he worked in ticketing and customer service. As well, he was responsible for the scheduling and mentoring of staff along with the smooth transitioning of season-ticket members into new Mosaic Stadium.
The team moved into its current home in 2017, when Harrison was named the Volunteer Co-ordinator. That was the very same year in which the Rider Squad was formed.
At the same time, Harrison was in the early stages of his own transition, career-wise.
Beginning in January of 2003, he was the Executive Chef, President and Owner of Rushton’s Catering. He loved many aspects of operating his own business. Making a living while catering to one of his passions — cooking — was a labour of love, but the minutiae got in the way.
“I was tired of getting 1,200 emails a day,” he recalls. “I thought, ‘It’s time to retire … time to slow down.’ ”
And he did — for at least an hour or two.
“I locked the door at the kitchen and walked into the Transition Centre the next day,” he says.
“I doubt that I could ever fully retire. It would drive me crazy. I would drive Yvonne crazy.”
In addition to being a key driver with the Roughriders’ volunteer program, he also lends his time to local events (such as the 2018 Memorial Cup, 2022 Grey Cup and 2023 Saskatchewan Winter Games) and serves on a number of boards.
How does he find time for it all?
“I like logistics,” he says, matter-of-factly, “and catering is logistics.
“It’s just a matter of organization. I keep my calendar organized.”
One must turn back the calendar 60 years to document Harrison’s arrival. Rob and his brother Kevin are the children of Doug and Roberta Harrison, both of whom are now in their 80s.
Growing up on Halleran Place — “north of Dewdney,” Rob is quick to point out — he attended Thom and Martin, graduating from the latter high school.
“I’d also randomly show up at other schools,” he says with a chuckle. “One of my favourites was Sheldon. I used to go there and sit in the back of a classroom and see if the teacher noticed.
“I actually went to Martin twice. After I graduated, I went back to get a couple of more credits, so I actually had a remedial graduation.”
By then, he was already accomplished in the field of food preparation and highly familiar with the restaurant industry.
“Mom and Dad both worked, so I’d do a lot of cooking at home,” he remembers.
“I’ve always found cooking to be therapeutic. Everyone’s got to eat and, when people are sharing food, it tends to be a pretty congenial setting.”
Vocationally, he started out as a bus boy at two of Regina’s all-time great restaurants — Geno’s and the Red Ox — before transitioning, quite naturally and comfortably, into the kitchen.
The initial blueprint, career-wise, was to become a full-time cook after high school — or high schools, given his affiliations with Thom, Martin and, unofficially, Sheldon-Williams — but he graduated during a recession and apprenticeship opportunities were scarce.
Therefore, he worked in the flooring and trucking industries before being hired by Toys “R” Us in 1991 and spending nine years at the Regina location, a tenure that included responsibility as the Store Director.
Next stop: Staples Business Depot, with which he was the Sales Manager from May of 2000 to March of 2002.
Following a work term as a chef and kitchen assistant at the RCMP Depot, Harrison founded Rushton’s Catering and continued to work toward his Red Seal Certification as a chef.
Rushton’s Catering had the capacity to serve as many as 3,500 meals in one day.
As busy as he was, he never lost his passion for volunteerism. In 2008, he became a Certified Volunteer Administrator.
“Volunteering is something that has always been in my blood,” Harrison says. “I’ve often wondered if a transfusion would change that.
“As a young kid — I just aged myself dramatically by saying ‘as a young kid’ — I was volunteering with Boy Scouts and Cadets. I’d volunteer to sell poppies or as a counsellor at summer camps.
“Yvonne has been a Girl Guides leader for 25-plus years and she also volunteered to help Shianne’s class raise funds.
“It’s just something that we have both loved. Volunteering gives you a chance to work with other people and experience different things and have some fun.”
He always emphasizes the “fun” part when interacting with members of the Rider Squad.
“We know that people are here to fill a role but, at the same time, you need to enjoy it,” Harrison says.
Those words are spoken by someone who has lived the experience — and whose wife is a Rider Squad volunteer.
Harrison first volunteered with the Roughriders when the Grey Cup Festival was held in Saskatchewan in 2013.
Instead of accepting any credit for such tireless devotion to the community, Harrison prefers to shine a light on others. That is evidenced by Sunday’s volunteer event, at which dinner will be served and the Rider Squad will be thanked.
As selfless as he is, Harrison will boast of one thing — the ability, referenced earlier, to slice a flying lemon.
“And,” he is quick to add, “I could do it with a mushroom, too.”
He could do it? Why the past tense?
“Well, I could probably still do it,” he replies, “but I’d need to throw it a little slower.”
Any way you slice it, it’s impressive.
