ATHABASCA – More than 300 people packed into Athabasca Regional Multiplex April 26 to raise more than $110,000 for the community at the Athabasca Rotary Club's bi-annual Celebrity Dinner.
“As someone who’s attended and has now become a Rotarian, I feel like every event is just better than the last,” said club president Natasha Kapitaniuk. “It always exceeds expectations.”
The dinner, which is the largest event put on by the club, raised $110,000 for the latest Rotary project, a shade structure near the splash park at the Riverfront.
“I think it's going to be one of the best things we’ve built at the Riverfront because it’s so versatile,” said Kapitaniuk, who envisions the space being used for everything from the River Rats festival to a business lunch. “There’s so much usage for it, I think it's going to be a wonderful project to see come to life.”
An important change for Rotary has been a tonal one. Historically the event has focused heavily on sports, with auction items and entertainment following suit. This year's committee chair, Trisha Dennis, wanted to go a different route with it.
“We have an excellent foundation, and we offer a lot of really, really good things,” said Dennis. “I would like to see it male-female balanced a little more, there’s been some great suggestions. It’s just about continuing to bring balance ... we appreciate everyone that comes.”
Danny Hooper, an Albertan celebrity in his own right, hosted the event, running auctions, fundraising games, and generally keeping attendees in a giving mood throughout the entire evening.
“I’ve got long history and deep roots to Athabasca, so it just feels good every time I come here,” he said, adding that his family used to own a cabin at Baptiste Lake. “I feel here, these are still real people; they aren’t easily offended, they understand that what I do is comedy and is meant for humour ... this community gets that.”
Dennis and Hooper debuted a “new” fundraising game that Dennis said she first played at a similar event in Saskatchewan.
Both Dennis and Kapitaniuk said the evolution of the event was a sign that Rotary was looking to grow the dinner and make sure that there was something for every attendee. Hypnotist Wayne Lee was an example of that; Lee kept the audience enthralled for his 90-minute set, which featured local community members as the stars of the show. Lee said his show benefits from a smaller setting where he has more time to work his magic with an audience.
“There’s lots of time to meet and greet people, really build that report and get to know people.” said Lee after his show. “At an event like this, people are expecting to have fun, they’re going to have a few cocktails, I know we’re going to have some really good people up on stage.”
