ESTEVAN - The latest fundraiser for the Creighton Lodge Trust Committee proved to be the most successful yet.
A Duelling Pianos concert was held Friday night at the Wylie-Mitchell building, with 312 tickets sold. Spectators enjoyed the musical skills of Barry Lough and Craig Learmont, who perform together under the name of 176 Keys.
“It was a huge success,” said Creighton Lodge manager Shelly Veroba. “Everyone had fun and we’ve heard nothing but good things about it.”
Veroba noted that it was a different Duelling Pianos performance than what they were supposed to have originally. Burn’N’Mahn, who have been here in the past, were unable to come, so 176 Keys came instead on relatively short notice.
“They said this was the biggest event that they’ve ever done,” said Veroba.
People were still highly entertained throughout the event.
“They put on a great show for everyone in attendance,” said Veroba.
The musicians took tips for song requests, either for a song that people wanted to hear or for a song they wanted to stop. Those tips generated $1,365 for Creighton Lodge.
The event kicked off with a barbecue chicken and roast beef supper catered by A Little Taste of Heaven Catering Co. Then they had a couple of draws and a 50-50, which was worth $1,500 and won by Mike Clausen.
Organizers tried to support local businesses as much as possible. In addition to the caterers, they turned to the Days Inn for liquor purchases for the bar, the Southern Plains Co-op for snacks and liquor for raffle prizes and the City of Estevan for the stage and linens.
Veroba believes they raised approximately $31,000 for capital projects at the lodge. Roughly $25,000 came from ticket sales and the event itself, and $6,000 was from individuals and businesses who donated to the event.
This is the largest fundraiser the trust committee has had to date. Their last fundraiser in 2019 draw about 200 people.
“Due to events like this in the past, we’ve been able to complete our projects such as the generator, which is a huge relief for us, because now in the event of a storm or a power outage, especially in the cooler months or the really hot months, we will still have power for our building and our seniors,” said Veroba.
The lodge has previously replaced a section of the roof on the 300 hallway, and in 2021, they resurfaced the sidewalks on the outside to make it safer for residents to walk.
This year the focus is on exterior doors to ensure they are safe. One door fell from its hinges last year on a windy day and other doors are old. The lodge wants to ensure they are safe and the hinges are secure.
Other smaller projects are in the offing this year and the lodge hopes to look at some larger projects in 2023.
Veroba also pointed out that they had people ranging in age from 19-97 at the event, and a couple of residents were present with their families.
