It was a packed house for the Big Country Shrine Club’s Prime Rib and King Crab Dinner Auction on Saturday.
There wasn’t a ticket to be had for the annual fundraising event which sold out in record time. The bidding action got an early start when, for $800, Donna Barnett auctioned off the rights to be the first table to sample the buffet prepared by James Clancy and the staff of the Red Rock Grill.
Expenses are still being calculated, said Shriner’s club president Glen Clancy so they do not have a figure yet on how much was raised by the charity event.
Near the beginning of the night, Barnett announced that due to price of king crab the club might need to consider options for next year’s dinner. Before being shut down by COVID-19 the club was paying approximately $8,000 for crab while now they are paying $16,000.
Clancy confirmed, saying a shortage of king crab is pushing prices up.
A questionnaire left at each place setting listed three alternatives for attendees to vote on: Dungeness crab, lobster or prawns.
Patient ambassador Wendy Fredrickson and her husband Terry travelled from Williams Lake for the dinner. She made her first trip to the Shiners Hospital in Portland, Oregon when she was around one.
“I was born with Syndactyly which is a deformity of the hand,” said Fredrickson. The Shriners Hospital did all the surgeries to release the webbing between her fingers up until she was 19.
She said she can use her hand for all manner of tasks now including typing, playing piano and doing print shop work.
She was the youngest of seven children and said her parents used to make a trip out of the visit.
The Shriners went above and beyond to make sure everything was looked after for the family to get to Portland.
Ron Yates, the potentate of the Gizeh Shriners of B.C. and the Yukon said it was nice to see the Shrine dollars raised in the Cariboo being spent here.
“We try to do these things to raise money to look after our children.”
Any transportation, lodging and meals are looked after by the Shriners, he said, adding that Air Canada and Westjet have been good at providing free seats for children and their parents or guardian heading to the Shrine Hospital in Montreal.
READ MORE: Shriners’ dinner auction raises over $20,000
Val Azevedo attended the dinner with her husband Roy. She said it was the second time they had purchased tickets to the event. “It was so much fun we wanted to come again. The food’s wonderful and the Shriners do so much good work for the community and the province.”
She indicated the line of auction tables behind her and said, “The live auction is really fun too.”
Clancy thanked the public for their support of the evening, both for buying tickets to the event and for making donations. Without the donations, many of which came from Williams Lake, the event would not be as successful.
Yost asked those who know children in need of assistance to call the Burnaby office at 604-291-7707 or 1-800-661-5437.
fiona.grisswell@100milefreepress.net
Like us on Facebook and follow us on X
