Hazy daze in June
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, May 24, 2017
RANKIN INLET
The Rankin Inlet Fire Department and EMS Services will be unveiling another major fundraiser in Rankin later this month when they officially announce Solfest, a two day event combining a gala and community day festival.
The Bouncy Castle will be putting smiles on the faces of kids like Makayla Kaludjak and Arthur Amarok, right, once again when it makes its return to the community during the fire department's Solfest fundraiser in Rankin Inlet this coming month. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo |
The Celebration of the Sun gala fundraiser on June 17 will feature food, dancing, the music of Northern Haze and a giant raffle with a grand prize of a 2017 Yamaha Grizzly CAMO 700 EPS.
The Iglulik rock band will headline Solfest's free Community Day Festival the following afternoon on June 18. The community day will also feature a number of local bands and artists, including the Midnight News, and the Bouncy Castle will be set up for the kids to enjoy.
Rankin Fire Chief Mark Wyatt said while Solfest will follow the same design as the department's 2016 Oktoberfest fundraiser, he wanted to include more of the community in the festivities.
"I talked to the band about playing again the day after the gala," he said, "and they were up for it, so we're now doing a free outdoor concert for the community on (June 18), as well."
"We're going to try and make it a little bit more of a festival atmosphere with a couple of additional acts on stage, and our recreation department is going to provide the large bouncy castle that always goes over well with the kids.
"As well, we're going to set up our new Rankin Inlet Fire Department tent and cook hot dogs and things like that -so, it should be just a real fun time for the entire community."
Wyatt said the department is investing a fair amount of money into the event, so he's hoping the giant lottery tickets sell well leading up to the gala.
He said fundraising -like a lot of things -needs a bit of capital put into it, to make it successful so that it can pull in some money for the department.
To that end, in addition to the Yamaha Grizzly grand prize, the raffle features a camping/fishing package, free gas and a one-year membership to the local fitness centre, plus at least one other prize Wyatt hopes to confirm shortly.
"We've received great community support for the raffle, as well as good support for the concert, from Agnico Eagle Mines and the Kivalliq Inuit Association," he said.
"First Air has helped us out with the airfare for the band, as well."
Wyatt said last year's Oktoberfest fundraiser brought in about $23,000 for the department and he hopes Solfest will come close to that amount.
He said it's a lot of hard work to host the fundraisers, but it was more than worth it in the long run and the department always looked forward to events where it can give a little something back to the community for its ongoing support.
"The 18th is a free event for the community, but it's costing the fire department some money for the headlining band, staging, equipment and all that kind of stuff," Wyatt said.
"So we have an investment in the free Sunday festival, but it's about us doing something else for the community and, again, that's important to us.
"We were kind of inspired after the Easter egg hunt to host a couple of extra events for everyone throughout the year, because it's good for the community and it's good for us.
"And, it just make sense to marry the events together so we can, hopefully, accomplish our fundraising goals at the same time as we're hosting a free community event."
Wyatt said members of the department all pitch in and do their share to make the events a success.
Once the tickets are ready to go, every member of the department will be out trying to sell their share to make the giant raffle a success.
"We also have a decor committee for decorating the hall, so everybody will be helping out to make this thing work," he said.
"We'll sell about 180, maybe 190, tickets to the show.
"We have a capacity of 212 which includes staff, band members and catering staff, so I have to work backwards with the numbers to ensure we don't go over the hall's capacity.
"We hope to continue on, annually, with these as our two signature events - Oktoberfest in the late fall and Solfest in the late spring - and, beyond that, we'll continue to host bingo games, car washes and other types of things throughout the year. But, for a fire department, having two signature events a year in the community is pretty good."
