The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
The one and only Ronald McDonald made his way through the crowd of excited preschoolers and fans during his one-hour show, How Do You Play?, at the McDonald's restaurant Saturday afternoon. Ronald and his team are making their way around the country with their How Do You Play? show, which is their newest and most recent performance. Ronald himself took some time before heading back on the road after the show to say how excited he was to be in Flin Flon. "I just love meeting new people and Flin Flon is just amazing," says the clown. Along with Flin Flon, which Ronald hadn't been to in about five years, the team also put on a show in The Pas earlier last week. "I just love coming to these small towns," he says. The How Do You Play? show is a way to promote a healthy lifestyle, says Ronald, adding that "it's just a fun way to have fun." During the show, members of the audience were chosen based on their dancing skills to compete in the ultimate dance off at the end of the show. Nathan Bonner was the ultimate dancer, winning himself an I-pod shuffle. Throughout Ronald's show, the clown talks to friends via satellite who are out living a healthy lifestyle, such as Olympic medal winners Cindy Klausen and Brad Martin. Ronald says the key message from his shows is all about being healthy and having fun while you do it. As for his interesting career, Ronald says "it's just awesome. I go all over and do so many things." The clown's list of wacky activities starts off with snowboarding, skydiving, flying in an acrobatic air show, driving a race car and many more. "It's just a lot of fun," he says, adding "it's unusual and I wouldn't change a thing." While Ronald may not always have his costume on, he says as far as his personality goes, "I am Ronald." The How Do You Play? show has just begun its tour, with Flin Flon being the fifth stop of the tour. McDonald's manager Jo-Ann Gauthier, who was just as excited to see Ronald as the rest of the crowd, says it was amazing to see him back here. "It was awesome. The turnout was even better than expected,"she says. With a capacity of 71 seats, the restaurant was "past the capacity, that's for sure," says Gauthier. "There were people standing in Wal-Mart watching. It was just incredible." Ronald made his first appearance in Flin Flon in 2002 for the opening of the Wal-Mart store and made his second visit this past weekend, but Gauthier says she hopes to be seeing him again more often. "We're hoping this is just the start of his visits and we want to have him come back," she says. As for Gauthier herself, who became manager in March, she says she has had a lot of firsts here. "It's a really good feeling... and the customers really made the day," she adds. Gauthier even had parents of children come back the next day to let her know how amazing everything was. "There was a lot of hard work that went into that and it was so worthwhile," she says.
