Kevin Laliberte
Express Staff

Smoky River Ducks Unlimited’s 21st annual dinner and auction fundraiser Oct. 20 at the Elks Hall in McLennan, will go down in the history books as the most successful ever. “We couldn’t have asked for a better response to our fundraising event.” “It was absolutely fantastic,” says Ducks Unlimited chairperson Terry Dunne, adding that they fell just one ticket shy of a complete sellout (149 of 150 tickets were sold). Equally impressive to the response by the public was their generosity to Ducks Unlimited, which translated into a record-breaking fundraising net profit of approximately $28,000 at the end of the evening – a result which surpassed last year’s record of $20,000. “It’s the highest amount ever raised in the history of our organization,” Dunne says. “On behalf of Smoky River Ducks Unlimited, I would personally like to extend a special thank-you to everyone in the region for their continued support. The community is what makes this night a success, not us.” The event included a catered roast beef and stuffed chicken dinner (prepared by Helen Grammar and Elaine Smith ) in addition to a silent and live auction. About 90 items were up for grabs to the highest bidders during the evening in both the silent and live auctions. That included two prominent items in the live auction: a framed jersey of Toronto Maple Leafs’ hockey legend Darryl Sittler and a framed jacket of CBC television’s Hockey Night In Canada personality Don Cherry of Coach’s Corner. Both items were snatched up by Markco and Paulette Plummer of Grimshaw, who paid $3,900 in total for the Sittler jersey ($2,400) and the Cherry jacket ($1,500). Tickets were sold for additional prizes, ranging in nature from the Pick of the Litter draw, the Duck Egg draw, the Outdoor/Indoor draws, Last Duck Standing draw (for a Ducks Unlimited leather chair), Lucky 13 and Pluck A Duck. Brian Meyers won the Pick of the Litter draw and selected a limited edition framed print by Robert Bateman. Winners in the Duck Egg draw included Edna Boisvert (a sapphire ring), Dale Fish(winner of a $300 gift certificate from McLennan Laser & Skin Care Centre), and Marcel Lafreniere, who won a wall clock courtesy of McLennan/Falher IDA). Winner of the Last Duck Standing was Krystina Gagne while Tamara Zenner selected a trip for two to Las Vegas as the winning recipient of the Lucky 13 draw, which raised in excess of $6,500 on its own. Lucky 13 The Lucky 13 draw featured the auction of 13 individual DU containers to the highest bidders. Each container included a numbered card which matched 13 others placed in a hat. Numbers were drawn one at a time until one person – the winner – remained. Dunne said he was pleasantly surprised by the high bidding wars in Lucky 13. “The first one sold for just over $400 while everything after that went for between $500 and $600 each, which is pretty impressive,” he said. Proceeds from the annual fund-raising initiative are used to support sustainable long-term wetland habitat conservation projects within the Smoky River region. Smoky River Ducks Unlimited executive This year’s Smoky River Ducks Unlimited executive consists of: chairperson Terry Dunne, secretary/treasurer Don Fish, past-chairpersons Doug Colter and Bruce Brulotte, and directors Wendy Atwood, Dianne Benoit, Gerry Benoit, Judith Colter, Pauline Gervais, Rick & Vicki Thiessen, Catherine Dunne, Ann Trotter, Frank Lang, Sandy & Robert Thrall, Gus & Wendy Brulotte, Ursula Valiquette, Dale Fish, Marilynne Brulotte and Irene Hoedl and Terry Hoedl. Proceeds from the event go towards habitat reclamation and wetlands preservation in the Smoky River region.

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