Fire department fundraiser sells out
Fire chief hopes to make dance, raffle an annual event
Darrell Greer
Northern News Services
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
RANKIN INLET
The Oktoberfest supper, dance and raffle to raise funds for the local fire department was a success in Rankin Inlet this past month, raising around $22,000.
Theresie Tungilik sits atop her brandnew snowmobile after her ticket was pulled for the top prize in a raffle held to raise funds for the local fire department in Rankin Inlet this past month. - photo courtesy of Mark Wyatt |
The Oktoberfest was held on Oct. 24, with the raffle draw taking place before the final set of the Kivalliq rock band, the Midnight News. "Everyone realized this was for a good cause and I'm very happy with the community support we received," said Fire Chief Mark Wyatt.
"The dance and supper was completely sold out and we raised a lot of money for the department between it and the raffle," said Wyatt. "Most of all, from what I saw and have been told, everyone had a great time and we had no major incidents."
He said he was quite happy with the people who came out to support the event.
"People had fun and, yes, some did get intoxicated, but nobody was aggressive or unruly, so it all worked out well."
Wyatt said 19 or 20 people were taken home by taxi at the end of the evening.
He said that's pretty good from a crowd that size, and everyone put safety first.
"Most people who didn't take a taxi walked home after the dance, and nobody was driving after drinking all evening," he said, adding he's received nothing but positive feedback.
"A lot of people really enjoyed having an opportunity to do something like this, and they're all ready asking me if we're going to do it again next year."
Wyatt said it was quite exciting to present a new snowmobile to top raffle winner Theresie Tungilik, who was away on duty travel this past week.
He said the raffle worked well as a fundraiser in combination with the Oktoberfest celebration, with most of the tickets selling in the last two or three days before the draw. "We were doing pretty good up until that point, then things went a bit crazy," he said. "Mid-week before the dance we had reached the break-even point with the cost of the raffle, and we ended-up doing really well those final three days."
Wyatt said he hopes the event will be as successful next year.
"We have every intention of holding this again - we might go with a different theme, we haven't decided yet - and I'm hoping it will become an annual event," he said.
