Young people playing minor hockey in Alameda will benefit from the support shown for a recent fundraiser.
A dinner and cabaret was held on Sept. 21 at the town’s arena. Dean Copeland, who is the vice-president of minor hockey, said they sold out of the tickets available for the supper, and he believes 150-170 people were in attendance.
A supper was served by Chopper K, which is the steak house in Alameda.
Organizers brought a company named Amazing Entertainment out from Winnipeg for the evening. They brought their Jeopardy for Dummies game with them.
“We divided people into teams, and it was extremely interactive. Almost everyone got a chance to participate in the game, and of course there were prizes available,” said Copeland.
Last year they had Amazing Entertainment out for their fundraiser, which had a different format, so they decided to bring the company back again.
“The entertainment was top-notch,” said Copeland. “Everybody was out to have a good time. The food was great, the company was great and the result was great as well.”
Once the game show ended, there was a dance and a cabaret with music from a DJ.
Some of the farmers who couldn’t get out in the field that day due to rain came in to enjoy the dance portion of the evening.
The local 4-H members helped out with serving the meal, and high school students from the community were designated drivers.
A variety of prizes were available during the evening, too.
Copeland believes the event raised between $6,000 and $7,000.
“It’s our biggest fundraiser for our minor hockey association, and this year coming up is going to be a little more expensive for a couple of different reasons.”
In previous years, the community had held a ladies’ night fundraiser, but due to the growing prevalence of ladies’ night events, they decided to try something new and came up with the supper, entertainment and cabaret.
New regulations require that some new equipment to be purchased, as novice divisions are adopting the half-ice concept similar to what is seen in initiation.
They also have to purchase new smaller nets and training equipment.
“Anything sports-wise that you want to have last a long time comes with a pretty hefty price tag,” said Copeland. “Two miniature nets alone are going to cost us almost $1,500.”
Then there are aides to help with skating, shooting and stick-handling that they want to be high-quality, so they don’t have to be replaced almost every year.
“If we don’t have it, then we’re doing our youngsters a disservice,” said Copeland. “And it just makes it more fun to have some training tools out there.”
The community completed a renovation of the rink a couple of years ago that cost close to $650,000, and they believe now is the time to purchase the equipment.
