Listowel strongman Chris Kurz is hitting the gym again in preparation for his next fundraiser.
Kurz will be doing a special version of the "strongman yoke" at next year's Paddyfest, to raise money for the Salvation Army. Kurz says the idea was pitched to him in an interesting way, where a friend had his school class do Dragon's Den style presentations.
"So what happened was, in the Bay Watch movie that came out last year, The Rock, Dwayne Johnson, is seen carrying two fridges, and this movie came out like one week before this Dragon's Den pitch we were doing," says Kurz. "So a couple of the students saw this movie and said 'we're gonna make Kurzy do that.'"
The idea was then thrown out to replace the fridges with clear bins and fill them with donations of loonies to simulate a pot of gold to fit in with Paddyfest. Kurz says unlike regular yokes where the weight is stable, the loonies will present an interesting curve ball.
"Obviously the change, the loonies are going to shift, and that's what makes this really hard," says Kurz. "Any strongman yoke event is going to be difficult, but when you add shifting weight, as well as the many hills encompassing our Paddyfest Parade route, it's going to a doozie."
Kurz says in terms of collecting the loonies, the fundraising plans are in their early stages.
"We have the gym Dynafit on board and the Diana Sweets Restaurant here in town," says Kurz. "We're hoping to get places like Zehrs involved as well, where people bring cash money to buy their groceries and might have some leftover loonies that they could throw in the pot, that sort of thing."
Kurz has raised over $100,000 for the Salvation Army in five similar "strongman" events.