Hockey star reneges on charitable donation

[Denis Salter]

Dear Richard et al,

Someone (I can't remember who) told me during the summer that
this gift of money was in fact earmarked for the importation of
Russian works of art.  I also have a vague memory of hearing
that it also had something to do with helping out the Hermitage
in St. Petersburg.  The Hermitage is broke or deeply in debt,
with many of its viewing rooms closed and many of its paintings
badly stored. Perhaps the idea was to purchase some of those
paintings and bring them to Canada so that the Hermitage could
get released, or partly released, from its financial hock(ey).
I agree that Don Cherry should be consulted but only if he's
willing to come out of the coach's corner.

D.


Denis Salter
Department of English
McGill University
853 Sherbrooke Street West
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 2T6
(514) 487 7309
E-Mail  CYWS at MUSICA.MCGILL.CA
------------------------------- Original Message -------------------------------
Hello Alistair Jarvis, et al:

SOme people in the artistic and scholarly community even sent letters to M
Yashin applauding his generosity and, optimistically, some people in the
community even thought that this gift was a sign (from the gods?) that the
sporting community had among it a sense of the importance of the arts in
life. And that there might even be an amount of money left over in the
tight financial budgets of the athletes, which could be passed on to
artists. And maybe there was some sense of a social responsibility amid
the gathering of great financial resources, which is the burden of a
rather full pocketbook among sporting folk.

I find it hard to know quite what to think at the moment. I am such a
cynical fellow I might be tempted to see a bit of a darker side in all
this. Myabe I should call Don Cherry for some advice.

Richard Plant
Dept of Drama, Queen's University
and
Graduate Centre for Study of Drama,
University of Toronto

On Wed, 20 Jan 1999, Alastair M. Wallis Jarvis wrote:

> The story about Yashin donating $1,000,000 to the National Arts Centre was
> posted here last year. I thought those who read it may be interested in
> the latest.
>
> Best to all,
>
> Alastair Jarvis
> Theatre and Contemporary Studies
> University of King's College
> Halifax, Nova Scotia
>
> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>
>    Wednesday, January 20, 1999
>
> Hockey star reneges on charitable donation
>
>    OTTAWA (CP) -- For the National Arts Centre, it's like a goal has been
>    called back -- a million-dollar goal.
>
>    Ottawa Senators captain Alexei Yashin has decided to pull the bulk of
>    a highly publicized $1 million donation he made to the arts centre
>    last year.
>
>    National Arts Centre officials announced that Yashin had informed them
>    earlier this week not to expect the money, citing "personal reasons."
>    "It's a difficult day for the NAC," said Kelly Beaton, spokeswoman for
>    the centre.
>
>    Yashin made international headlines last January when it was revealed
>    the Russian star had pledged to donate $1 million over five years. The
>    donation was marked by a glitzy ceremony at the arts centre, complete
>    with a performance by the resident symphony orchestra.
>
>    At the time, Yashin said he wanted the money to be used to promote
>    Russian culture. But Beaton said the money was not officially
>    earmarked for that.
>
>    Yashin gave the arts centre $200,000 last January and was to donate a
>    further $800,000 over the next four years. The pledge stipulated that
>    Yashin had the right to pull his offer at any time and for any reason.
>    Yashin was in New York with the Senators on Tuesday playing against
>    the Rangers and was unavailable for comment.
>
>    Senators President Roy Mlakar said Yashin's decision "is clearly his
>    business" and had "nothing to do with his role as captain" of the
>    team.
>      _________________________________________________________________
>
> Story availible online via http:// www.canoe.ca
>