ARCOLA - The Arcola Prairie Place Complex came alive on April 5 with a full house for the 21st annual Moose Mountain Wildlife Federation (MMWF) supper and auction.
Upon entering the hall, people picked up bid numbers, and if they wished, they could purchase tickets in support of the Arcola Hospital Retention and Recruitment, for a chance to win a $500 gift card to the Temple Gardens Hotel and Spa in Moose Jaw.
At the same time, 50/50 tickets were available, and this year the proceeds will be donated to the St. Joseph’s Hospital’s dialysis unit in honour of the late Dale Garling.
Garling was a long-time member of MMWF, and for the past 17 years before his passing, he went three times a week to St. Joseph’s for dialysis, receiving 3,000 treatments in those years.
Travis Schaeffer, president of the Saskatchewan Wildlife Federation, was also there to present the cheque to the Garling family.
The 50/50 total was $1,260, to be donated to the dialysis unit. It was presented by Paul Delalleau and accepted by Garling's family.
Along the north wall, tables were filled with silent auction items. There were three other tables with raffle items.
Supper was prepared and served by Weir’s Catering, and consisted of pork, beef, baked potatoes, salads and a wide selection of desserts.
Each table had a cast-iron moose, elk or deer. If the elks were called, they got to eat first.
Devin Brown was the MC for the evening and when supper was completed, he introduced Ty Cutler, the Rookie of the Year Auctioneer for the evening. Cutler had 50 items to sell to the highest bidder.
A mystery box is a surprise and brought in $2,000. It contained a fishing trip for three people at Viking Lodge in Manitoba. It also housed fishing gear, lawn chairs and a tent.
A ping-pong auction was also included. Eleven numbered balls were sold to the highest bidder. The purchasers came on stage, the same numbered ping-pong balls were placed in a bucket and if a person's ball is drawn, they left the stage until one remained. The winner could pick one of four prizes; the remaining prizes are then auctioned off.
Throughout the auction, the silent auction winners were announced.
The MMWF covers a large area that includes Arcola, Carlyle, Kisbey, Lampman, Manor and Stoughton.
The organization thanks all those who donated, sponsored, attended, supported and helped make this event a success.
