Chemme Ouarghi with the Kindersley Inn serves up beef on a bun to Kindersley resident Karen Barrows at the second annual Zest of the West event on April 21 at the Co-op Arena. An organizer estimates that about 700 people attended the fundraiser and there were 31 food and beverage vendors in total.
Kenneth Brown
of The Clarion
The second annual Zest of the West food and beverage tasting event will surpass the inaugural event for support, according to a spokesperson for the pool fundraiser.
The 2018 Zest of the West was held in the Co-op Arena at the West Central Events Centre (WCEC) on April 21.
The event is organized by the Big Dippers pool fundraising committee. While final numbers were not available, the event is being touted as a great success.
Heather Aitken and The House Band performs for the large crowd on hand at the Co-op Arena.
Food and beverage vendors took up most of the arena floor while the remaining floor space was consumed by a stage and two lounge areas with tables and chairs. A group of booths on one side of the arena featured charitable opportunities for attendees.
Moises Canales of Golden West Radio was the master of ceremonies for Zest of the West. Live entertainment at the event featured Heather Aitken and The House Band along with opening act Bailey Imlach. The event also featured a cabaret in the WCEC curling rink where people danced the evening away to Mitch Larock and the 4:54 Band.
Tickets were being sold at the event for a draw to win a 60-second shopping spree at the Red Lion Inn Cold Beer & Wine Store. The Kindersley Community Service Group was selling tickets for its ongoing Chase the Ace draw.
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The Big Dippers committee held a silent auction for people to bid on three opportunities at the future Kindersley Aquatics Centre. People could bid on being the first person to swim in the pool, first person to go down the water slide and first group to host a pool party for up to 16 people. The Town of Kindersley was also selling Trip of the Month tickets – another fundraiser for the aquatics centre.
Jamie Henry, chairperson for the Big Dippers, said organizers are thrilled with the result. She said the evening went really well and it was a fantastic event for the community. Local sponsors stepped up and it was an excellent event for the committee.
“It was such a great night,” she said, recognizing that this year’s Zest of the West ended up bigger and better than last year’s event with so much amazing support from the community, sponsors and volunteers. “What a great night.”
She noted that the event had space for 35 vendors, but there were only 31 vendors due to cancellations for various reasons. Still, she pointed out that there were only 24 vendors last year, so the event grew by seven vendors in 2018. Several people from neighbouring communities also supported the fundraiser, the chairperson recognized.
Among the charitable groups on hand was Prairie Proud, a clothing company that contributes to prairie-based charities and projects through its clothing sales. Henry said it was nice to have the clothing company on hand.
Henry said sales for food and beverage vendors were done through the sale of tickets, but organizers had a different arrangement with Prairie Proud. She said Cole Thorpe, the owner and founder of Prairie Proud, agreed to donate 10 per cent of his gross sales to the Big Dippers.
The chairperson said more than 40 volunteers helped at the event. The official attendance was also unavailable at press time, but Henry estimated that the event was attended by a total of approximately 700 people. Regardless, she knows the event surpassed the totals from 2017.
“The way it looks like, we did better than we did last year,” she said, noting there were still bills to be paid and she is confident that the fundraising total from 2018 surpassed the $40,000 raised in 2017. “It was a huge success.”
Another group to benefit from the night is KAWS Animal Rescue because the organization operated the coat check. Henry said the performers at Zest of the West and the cabaret all did a great job, and she believes people enjoyed the entertainment. She added that the plan now is to do a third annual Zest of the West in 2019.
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