He came wearing a cowboy hat and aviators, shirtless, showing off that iconic belly that’s packed away more than a few cheeseburgers over the years.
Randy Bo-Bandy of Trailer Park Boys fame — known off-stage as Patrick Roach — just so happened to be in Vernon for his Cheeseburger Picnic comedy tour in the middle of the Golden Burger Challenge, and agreed to be a special judge for the challenge that rakes in funds for the North Okanagan Community Life Society (NOCLS).
Randy has been to Vernon a few times in the past, visiting his late uncle who lived in town. But this time around, he’s here to entertain.
Anyone who has seen the popular TV series The Trailer Park Boys knows how much Randy — Sunnyvale’s assistant trailer park supervisor — loves cheeseburgers. Randy is currently on his Cheeseburger Picnic tour which will take over Status Nightclub in Vernon Friday, Oct. 20, from 8:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. There are still some tickets left, which can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Randy had just made seven stops in Western Canada on his tour before arriving to Vernon.
“We’ve done probably 300 cheeseburger picnics across North America,” Randy told The Morning Star, adding that his show at Status will feature games, songs, jokes, laughs and of course, plenty of cheeseburgers.
On Thursday, Randy came to Diner on Six, one of nine Vernon restaurants taking part in this year’s Golden Burger Challenge. There, he began his day of sampling six of the burgers in the challenge (he’ll try the other three at his show Friday night).
@kelownacapnews Randy from the @TRAILER PARK BOYS ♬ Trailer Park Boyz - Noah
He said it’s been great visiting Vernon again and was glad the weather was nice, given he’s not the type to constrain his belly by wearing shirts.
“It’s been beautiful, my nipples aren’t even cold,” he said.
Asked to estimate how many burgers he’s eaten in his life, Randy guessed “two million,” but admitted he’s “not good at counting.”
Being a judge for the Golden Burger Challenge was a role Randy was born for.
“It makes me feel pretty honoured that I would be asked to come right here to beautiful Vernon and judge these wonderful cheeseburgers and sides,” he said. “It’s unbelievable, I never thought that I’d be getting this many free burgers. I thought I’d have to work for these burgers.”
This year marks the third annual Golden Burger Challenge, and folks can visit participating restaurants and purchase their burger and rate it online. Each burger sold as part of the competition will see $5 donated to NOCLS, which helps people, children and families with disabilities live independently.
“It was amazing,” said Celenka Krawczyk, NOCLS fundraising and event manager, about getting Randy involved in the burger challenge. “It was like karma that he was going to be here right in the middle of the challenge, so I gave his agent a call and he was just so stoked to help us out, he’s really great with fundraising and helping locally.”
Last year the Golden Burger Challenge raised $20,000 for NOCLS, and Krawczyk hopes they can raise $30,000 this time around.
This year’s participating restaurants in the Golden Burger Challenge are Sir Winston’s, Mr. Mikes, The Kal, The Longhorn Pub, Diner on Six, The Roster Sports Club Bar and Grill, Match Eatery and Public House, Namaste and Bourbon Street Bar and Grill.
New to this year’s burger challenge is a passport that people can obtain by making a donation to the NOCLS. If they fill out the passport by trying all the burgers on the list, they’ll be entered to win a prize draw.
The Golden Burger Challenge runs throughout the month of October. An awards ceremony declaring the winning restaurants will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 7, at the Vernon Towne Theatre.
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