BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//github.com/ical-org/ical.net//NONSGML ical.net 5.1.4//EN VERSION:2.0 BEGIN:VEVENT DESCRIPTION:Meet Harvey the Hound... Grant Kelba was just 23 years old when he crafted a lovable\, life-sized dog costume that ultimately would becom e the Calgary Flames mascot for the next 39 years—and counting. Harvey the Hound was the NHL’s first team mascot\, pitched by Kelba 40 years ag o. Kelba made his official debut as the lovable mascot on Feb. 16\, 1984\, but it wasn’t always an easy ride. “It’s from very humble beginnin gs\,” Kelba tells Calgary Citizen. Kelba was just “a kid” performin g as Calgary Stampede mascot Ralph the Dog for four years when he saw the Flames were moving into the Saddledome—a new\, state-of-the-art building at the time.   In 1996\, the Flames wanted to buy not just the costume f rom him but the trademark\, too. He ended up staying on for a few more ye ars as a contract employee after selling it to them but after 15 years of moonlighting as Harvey\, Kelba was ready to retire. “I woke up one morn ing after a particularly tough series of games and I stumbled into the bat hroom and looked in the mirror. My eyes were crusty and my skin was sore\, ” Kelba says. “You’re about to turn 40 and you’ve spent your enti re adult life as a dog\, it’s time to do something else. So I packed it in at the end of the ‘99 season.”       DTEND:20250211T200000Z DTSTAMP:20261022T110059Z DTSTART:20250211T183000Z LOCATION:Royal Canadian Legion #15 SEQUENCE:1 SUMMARY:Club Meeting - Grant Kelba - Life of a Mascot UID:53b38055-113e-4447-afc0-ae60601ba378 X-ALT-DESC;FMTTYPE=text/html:

Meet Harvey the Hound...< /p>\n\n

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Grant Kelba was just 23 years old when he crafted a lovable\, life-sized dog costume that ultimately would becom e the Calgary Flames mascot for the next 39 years&mdash\;and counting.

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Harvey the Hound was the NHL&rsqu o\;s first team mascot\, pitched by Kelba 40 years ago. Kelba made his off icial debut as the lovable mascot on Feb. 16\, 1984\, but it wasn&rsquo\;t always an easy ride.

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\n< p style="box-sizing: border-box\; border-width: 0px\; border-style: solid\ ; border-color: rgb(229\, 231\, 235)\; --tw-border-spacing-x: 0\; --tw-bor der-spacing-y: 0\; --tw-translate-x: 0\; --tw-translate-y: 0\; --tw-rotate : 0\; --tw-skew-x: 0\; --tw-skew-y: 0\; --tw-scale-x: 1\; --tw-scale-y: 1\ ; --tw-pan-x: \; --tw-pan-y: \; --tw-pinch-zoom: \; --tw-scroll-snap-stric tness: proximity\; --tw-gradient-from-position: \; --tw-gradient-via-posit ion: \; --tw-gradient-to-position: \; --tw-ordinal: \; --tw-slashed-zero: \; --tw-numeric-figure: \; --tw-numeric-spacing: \; --tw-numeric-fraction: \; --tw-ring-inset: \; --tw-ring-offset-width: 0px\; --tw-ring-offset-col or: #fff\; --tw-ring-color: rgb(59 130 246 / .5)\; --tw-ring-offset-shadow : 0 0 #0000\; --tw-ring-shadow: 0 0 #0000\; --tw-shadow: 0 0 #0000\; --tw- shadow-colored: 0 0 #0000\; --tw-blur: \; --tw-brightness: \; --tw-contras t: \; --tw-grayscale: \; --tw-hue-rotate: \; --tw-invert: \; --tw-saturate : \; --tw-sepia: \; --tw-drop-shadow: \; --tw-backdrop-blur: \; --tw-backd rop-brightness: \; --tw-backdrop-contrast: \; --tw-backdrop-grayscale: \; --tw-backdrop-hue-rotate: \; --tw-backdrop-invert: \; --tw-backdrop-opacit y: \; --tw-backdrop-saturate: \; --tw-backdrop-sepia: \; --tw-contain-size : \; --tw-contain-layout: \; --tw-contain-paint: \; --tw-contain-style: \; margin: 0px\; font-family: "\;Open Sans"\;\, "\;Segoe UI" \;\, "\;Apple SD Gothic Neo"\;\, "\;Lucida Grande"\;\, &qu ot\;Lucida Sans Unicode"\;\, sans-serif\; font-size: 17px\; line-heigh t: 26px\; color: var(--wt-text-on-background-color) !important\;">&ldquo\; It&rsquo\;s from very humble beginnings\,&rdquo\; Kelba tells Calgary Citi zen.

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Kelba was just &ldquo\;a kid&rdquo\; performing as Calgary Stampede mascot Ralph the Dog for four y ears when he saw the Flames were moving into the Saddledome&mdash\;a new\, state-of-the-art building at the time.

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In 1996\, the Flames wanted to buy not just the costume from him but the trademark\, too.

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He e nded up staying on for a few more years as a contract employee after selli ng it to them but after 15 years of moonlighting as Harvey\, Kelba was rea dy to retire.

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&ldquo\;I woke u p one morning after a particularly tough series of games and I stumbled in to the bathroom and looked in the mirror. My eyes were crusty and my skin was sore\,&rdquo\; Kelba says.

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&ldquo\;You&rsquo\;re about to turn 40 and you&rsquo\;ve spent your entir e adult life as a dog\, it&rsquo\;s time to do something else. So I packed it in at the end of the &lsquo\;99 season.&rdquo\;

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See re lated image detail. Kelsie Snow on Twitter: "\;Today we hit pause on o ur sadness for a couple of hours &\; leaned into ...

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