By David F. Rooney
Tickets for the Memories and Adventures benefit to help ALS victim Pauline Hunt are going fast.
Catherine Bellerose, one of the organizers of the Saturday evening benefit, said today that more than 160 of the 225 tickets printed have already been sold. If you haven’t yet purchased one, you had best get down to the Parks Canada office before it closes at 5 pm today.
“Some may be available at the door, but I don’t know how many,” she said.
The event takes place at St. Francis Parish Hall on Mackenzie Avenue on Saturday at 7 pm. It will feature live music and both a silent and, courtesy of auctioneer Brent Strand, a live auction.
“We have over 100 auction items with a value of over $12,000,” Bellerose said. “The business community, friends, acquaintances — the hwole community in fact — has really helped out. I don;t know any other town that would come together like this.”
Bellerose, Gregg Walker and others organized the event to help Hunt, a former BC Downhill Mountain Bike Champion, and her husband Simon organize future trips so their very young daughters will have happy memories of their mother. Hunt was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease, last month. The illness is incurable and 80 per cent of people with ALS die within two to five years of diagnosis — unable to breathe or swallow.
The auctions will feature art, photograph, woodwork, furniture and many, many other items donated by people who want to help the Hunts.
The Elks will be running the bar and there will be food, although Bellerose was unsure of how much would be available.
“If people would like to bring food, we’d really appreciate it,” she said.
Live music will be provided by Simon Hunt on drums, Sylvain Hebert on sax and flute, Jeff Wilson on guitar, Ron Salstrom on keyboard and Mike Liggins on lead guitar and bass.
The parish hall holds only 275 people and no more than 225 people will be admitted to the event otherwise “we’d all be squished together,” Bellerose said.
