It was a great initiative but a little hard to pull off.
Englefeld's School Community Council (SCC) held a fundraiser on May 5 to raise money for the school's staging, but the competition was stiff. The RBC Cup, Canada's national junior A hockey championship, had just got underway in Humboldt and was drawing most of the attention in the area.
Nevertheless Carol Sommer (SCC chair) and Rosalie Ven der Buhs plunged ahead with their plans for the fundraiser. The school's current staging, which was bought used over 10 years ago, says Sommer, needs to be replaced. The committee is trying to raise money to buy a modular system from Staging Canadell in Humboldt.
"We're hoping to be able to get it by the fall," said Sommer. "The fundraiser, we organized it for the community, for the people and businesses in the community."
It was the first time for the Englefeld Fun Walk/Run and even if the numbers were low for those who wanted to participate in the run, there were community members who were interested in just the pancake breakfast, the socializing, and in cheering the runners on.
"The people here are great for that," said Ven der Buhs. "Englefeld is such a community-spirited place."
Twenty-seven walkers/runners showed up, and to get them warmed up, there was a Tae Kwon Do demonstration by Kevin Neiman of the Humboldt Tae Kwon Do Club, followed by a Zumba fitness demonstration led by Danielle Saretsky of Humboldt.
Those who participated in the walk or run could choose from three distances mapped out in the village: 1.5-, 5-, and 8-kilometres.
There was also a penny auction raffle of homemade quilts and silent auction items, donated by people and businesses in the community.
Over $2,000 was raised by the event.
