Canaries celebrate 30th season with ballpark and food updates, special promos

This paid piece is sponsored by the Sioux Falls Canaries.

The Canaries will honor their 30th season in Sioux Falls by continuing to improve what comes next.

It’s a history worth celebrating and a future worth embracing for a franchise intent on polishing up on a local summertime tradition.

Count 2022 as an opportunity for the Canaries to show what they can do. Part of that will happen on the field, of course, but also organizationally.

The ownership has done some heavy lifting. Some of it is behind-the-scenes stuff. The Canaries, as promised at the end of last season, have dramatically beefed up their full-time staff. They also brought about a long overdue office remodeling and reconstruction.

The ownership decided to give the 1990s its desks, chairs and carpet back — though on certain nights the concessions will still be going for 1990s prices.

Some of these improvements are right up front, though, too. The Canaries will be playing on a new artificial turf infield, something that fans will notice immediately at the first home game May 20.

There will be a radically improved menu created and maintained in-house, and that giant scoreboard – the first piece of the puzzle a year ago and an indication new ownership was serious about having fun – is coming back with a lot more game.

All the changes are aimed at demonstrating that franchise leadership is fully engaged in providing an increasingly well-executed entertainment option for families and baseball fans of all ages.

“We’re very excited to bring a freshness to a team that’s been around here for decades,” said Canaries executive vice president Jack Fossand. “It’s fun to think about the Canaries being a brand name in this community that we can invest in. That has been the case for 30 years. That’s a long time. We’re one of the founding teams within this league, and we’re super proud of that.”

Co-owner and managing partner Brian Slipka, co-owner Anthon Albanese and their staff are a little more than 12 months into this project but light years ahead of where they were last year at this time. A year ago, after buying the team it was all hands on deck in getting ready for a 100-game schedule.

There was no time for developing infrastructure. At the end of last year, the owners and staff indicated they were just getting started.

Half a year later, with the days getting steadily longer and occasionally warmer, they prepare for an American Association season with a fresh set of confirmations on claims they were making last September. They are doing the things they said they’d do.

They are buying, they are building, and they are hiring.

“We’re not going anywhere,” said Fossand, a Twin Cities native who played college baseball at Dartmouth. “We want to establish a more substantial position in the community. It’s about paying homage to the staying power of the Canaries. It’s fun getting up in the morning and being part of that. We want to provide the best product, the best entertainment the community has ever seen from its minor league baseball team.”

As those who have followed the team closely can tell you since a gentleman named Harry Stavrenos brought the Canaries to town in 1993, a change in ownership is not new for this franchise, nor is it particularly unusual within the world of minor league baseball. It is a fact that there have been several groups to take a turn at the wheel since the six-team Northern League arrived in Sioux Falls. Of those original six, only the Sioux City Explorers and Canaries remain from a core group that renamed itself the American Association in 2005 and now includes 12 teams.

It means, as Fossand points out, that Sioux Falls and the Canaries – rebranded as the Fighting Pheasants from 2010-12 – have never given up on each other. It has included different owners, managers and nicknames but a hardy legacy remains. That doesn’t mean it’s not time to shake up things a little bit.

On that count, Fossand and the staff are prepared to greet this new season with enthusiasm made more distinctive because it will be accompanied by new features. Concessions shifts may be where the most aggressive change will take place. The Canaries organization has taken over the job of feeding its fans rather than farming the job out to vendors. More specifics on the type of food available is yet to come as the season gets closer, but Fossand is clearly thrilled with the progress they’ve made in ballpark fare.

“When you go to a Canaries game, it’s not going to be something where you’re thinking ‘Hey, let’s go to a bar first, get something to eat and then go to the game,” Fossand said. “It’s going to be ‘Let’s go to the game, and get some food.’ You’re going to want to get food at the ballpark because they’re doing such a good job with it. You’re going to want to show up hungry.”

Ballpark staples will be beefed up, sometimes literally in this case, and new options will be available. Things like street corn and walking tacos will be added to a menu that will include lots of new stuff and better versions of traditional options. There is no reason to reinvent the hot dog, in other words, but there are plenty of reasons to offer a better one.

“We’re not going to be offering medium-rare steaks on a plate, but we are going to have some damn good food at the ballpark this year,” Fossand said. “We are excited about it, and we think the people who come out will like it too.”

The Canaries begin the season on the road May 13 but will host 50 home games in a little over three months. A packed promotional schedule already has been released, so fans can plan now.

A glance reveals that “30th Season Throwin’ It Back Thursdays” will include a rollback on concession prices once a week.

Other highlights include a series of bobblehead nights encompassing a Mount Rushmore of Sitcoms. It begins with a Seinfeld Night that celebrates the 25th anniversary of Festivus with a bobblehead giveaway and then The Office, Friends and Always Sunny in Philadelphia themed bobblehead nights. The season will include the return of Big Lebowski Night on July 29, with other notables Beer League Softball Day on June 4, Daycare Day on June 16, Police vs Firemen First Responders Night on June 25, Military Appreciation Night on July 9 and Faith and Family Day on Aug. 28.

It is a schedule that brings a little bit of everything to the ballpark with the Canaries hoping fans respond by confidently coming back again. They want to be the franchise that dependably delivers a good time.

“It’s about giving the community the opportunity to say: ‘You know, I want to have a birthday party at the Birdcage. I want to celebrate our 30th anniversary at the Birdcage. I want to bring my entire company out to the Birdcage,’” Fossand said. “Overall, we really want people to see that we’ve put our money where our mouth is. We’ll know we’re accomplishing that when we’re filling the stadium.”

Click here for information on season tickets and the full lineup of games and promotions.