June 6, 2019 marked our 6th Annual Spring Fling fundraising banquet.
The event was very well attended and it was wonderful once again to see old and new contemporaries getting together to celebrate Conservation Education. It appears like this event is becoming more of a family gathering rather than the average fundraiser. If you were not able to attend I would strongly encourage you to make the resolve to attend next year. Our 7th Annual 2020 Spring Fling will be held on Thursday June 4 at the Silvermoon Banquets in Edmonton. More details will be forthcoming.
Those attending had a vast selection of items available to tempt them including a live auction, specialty packages, gun raffles, bucket raffles, silent auction items, the Cabela’s backyard smoker and a beer for a year raffle. The live auction featured his and hers mountain bikes, two African safaris, our popular elimination auction with the winner choosing a firearm, 2 waterfowl hunts, 3 day marksmanship rifle course with Rob Furlong, special wild game dinner for 6 from Normand’s restaurant, portable generator, entertainment package, Benelli Montefeltro shotgun, portable gas barbeque, laptop computer and a special range first aid kit with two police officer down online first aid courses courtesy of Blake Prince and CTOMS. There were lots of beaming faces and happy people enjoying themselves during the event.
A function like this would not be possible without the support of various businesses and organizations. In the current economic climate it is extremely difficult to obtain the donations required to make this event feasible. A huge heart-felt thanks to all who stepped up. Your continuous backing is very much appreciated indeed.
This year’s Volunteer Award was presented to Mr. Bassem Salama. Bassem is a Canadian Firearms Program and a Conservation and Hunter Education certified instructor. He is very active in the outdoor community. Bassem, his wife Monica, and two youngsters are very involved with their local church. Bassem is currently working on getting church members involved in numerous outdoor activities including a session at our Alford Lake facility. Bassem frequently volunteers at our numerous events and camps as well as our in-house courses. Thanks and congratulations to Mr. Salama.
The procedure for selecting our annual volunteer award is straight forward. Every time someone volunteers their time at any of our events their name gets documented. The volunteer award recipient is randomly picked form the database of those who have volunteered during the year. The more frequently you volunteer the more opportunities you have to receive the award.
Thanks to Mr. Marvin Kleinbert for working his usual magic again this year by leading the live auction as our auctioneer. Thanks also goes out to our MC, Mr. Eric Moland, who helped make everything run smoothly and even managed a good joke or two. Acknowledgement also goes out to all the staff and volunteers who helped make this event a big success. We could not do it without you.
The Taliani family, who looked after our event for us for the past number of years, decided to sell their business. Of course when something like this happens there naturally is a lot of apprehension. After a meeting with one of the new co-owners, Monika, all trepidation was extinguished. The event went over without a hitch and we are looking forward to our dealings with the ‘new guys’ again next year.
If you are considering holding an event in Edmonton, whether it is a wedding, reunion or banquet give Monika a call at 780-468-6006. You will not be disappointed.
See you next year.
Len Gransch
