Winnipeggers are set to celebrate a local sports icon — one who’s not known for his work on the ice or the field, but rather for his long-time role of dancing up a storm in the stands.
Local fans have seen Dancing Gabe Langlois, who turns 60 on Sunday, busting a move at just about every Winnipeg sporting event for decades. As his milestone birthday falls on a Manitoba Moose game day, the team has something special planned.
Moose marketing manager Raquel Payne told 680 CJOB’s The Start that since Dancing Gabe is at every game celebrating the team’s milestones, it’s time they do the same for him.
“We’re doing a special on-ice ceremony in the second intermission that fans are going to want to stick around in their seats for,” Payne said.
“There might be cake, there might be birthday singing, we’ve got some cards that fans can sign on the concourse.
“We’re really just going to be showing him out as much as we can, … making sure that everyone in the stands is dancing along.”
Payne says Gabe always brings such positive energy, no matter which Winnipeg team he’s supporting — and he’s a staple at home games for the Moose, the Winnipeg Jets, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, and the Winnipeg Goldeyes.
Even if you can’t attend Sunday’s game — in which the Moose take on the Toronto Marlies — Payne said fans can still offer congratulations to Winnipeg’s unofficial mascot remotely.
“Up on our social media, you can submit videos to him, so if you want to record a short little video and submit it there, we’re going to put them together and make sure he gets it on his special day.
“We love to see that. We love that people are so excited about this.”
This isn’t the first time Gabe’s decades of fancy footwork have earned him recognition from the community. He’s the subject of an official biography, and was awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal in 2013, as well as the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers seven years later.