It’s a normal hallway in a normal home, that leads to a not-so-normal room: “the Riders Room.”
The space in the Hackewich home is a main-floor room filled top-to-bottom with everything Saskatchewan Roughriders.
Nelson Hackewich began the collection with his father Lance Hackewich, 20 years ago. Hard to believe this was once the 23-year-old’s bedroom as it’s now a shrine to the Roughriders.
“It’s grown into, I don’t want to call it a museum, but a collection of Riders memorabilia,” Nelson said.
The room has almost outgrown itself.
“We’ve thought of moving it to the basement but, I’m always worried about floods and humidity and that kind of stuff,” Lance explained.
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Lance said they have never calculated the value of the room but they did add a clause to their home insurance just in case.
Lance said there are a few prized pieces he wants to protect. The room includes a ball from all four winning Grey Cup games, signed by the entire team. When asked what he would rescue in case of a fire, it was an easy answer:
“This ’66 ball. I would have to come rescue this ’66 ball.”
Nelson said they find the items in all different places, from Kijiji, to raffles or auctions and some are donated by like-minded fans.
The room even has its own Twitter and Facebook page @TheRidersRoom with over 700 likes.
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The pair said social media is a great way to find new items.
“Through our Facebook page people get a hold of us, and some of these people, they want their item, their parent’s item in a good collection,” Lance said.
But to the father-son pair, the collection is about more than physical objects. Nelson Hackewich remembers when it all began. He was only three years old and since then, they have been obsessed.
“He took me to the game as a young boy and that’s kind of where we grew closer together and this room proves all of that,” Nelson said.
“It wasn’t about whether the Riders won or lost, it was about going to games with my son,” Lance added.
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They even wear matching shirts to every game. Though green and white isn’t a part of their home decor, that’s okay with mom, Linda Hackewich.
“Most of the time the door is closed so you can’t really see that it doesn’t fit in, but were a family that supports the riders through thick and thin,” Linda said.
