SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
After a night of dining, dancing and auctioneering, the Forever in our Hearts gala ended with a bang raising $58,000 throughout the night.

Mark Scholtz rode around the Explorer Hotel's Katimavik room Saturday evening while auctioning off this bike, which eventually sold for $1,900. - Dana Bowen/NNSL photo

"We sold more tickets than last year - we had about three seats left and so in that way we are doing better," said Charles Dent, Yellowknife Community Foundation board member. "People look forward to it because this time of year it's nice to put on a fancy dress and suit up and we always have a really good social event."

The non-profit organization hosted the annual gala on Saturday, which had people in suits and sparkling gowns flooding into the Explorer Hotel to take part in a night of fine dining, music and auctions.

While the gala has been taking place for the last seven years as an early Valentine's Day celebration, Dent said the money it raises supports the organization's many scholarships and programs.

The foundation first formed in 1993. Since then, it has administered $750,000 to 33 different funds.

Some money raised from this weekend's gala will go toward Lynn's Place, Bailey House and scholarships, said Dent.

While the February event welcomes new faces each time, many have been known to return to the dance floor year after year.

Among those returnees is Kirby Marshall who bid $5,500 for a Graeme Shaw painting of daffodils donated by its artist. Visual Effects did the framing.

"We've been quite involved so for me it's important to be able to participate in part by bidding," he said. "I bid almost every time. I don't always win but it's a way we can do our small part by giving back to the community."

The gala had several items up for auction including a leather lounge chair from Quality Furniture and a floral-patterned bike which went for $1,900.

Adding a little more fun to the bidding wars was auctioneer Mark Scholz, who rode the Overlander bike across the gala floor while calling out numbers until the winning bid came in.

Near the end the night was the anticipated diamond draw, a pink and white necklace on a white-gold chain donated by Diavik Diamond Mine.

Aside from the auction, dinner and live music, the Katimavik Banquet Room was transformed into a romantic paradise with elegant centrepieces, purple and white silk tablecloths, along with chair covers and Chinese lanterns hanging off the ceiling to match.

To coincide with the event's theme Forever in our Hearts: Over the Moon, people milled over to the photo booth just outside the gala doors to pose alongside a giant luminescent moon.

"This has turned into one of the signature events in Yellowknife for fundraisers and it's been quite a wonderful event," said Marshall.

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