St. Charles Night Dinner and Dance began with a land acknowledgment by Elder Barb Nepinak, a band member of the Pine Creek Ojibway First Nation. Barb is a highly respected Traditional Knowledge and Wisdom Keeper and serves on the Special Indigenous Advisory Council for the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. As a Cultural Ambassador for Canada, she has represented the nation internationally, traveling to countries such as Brazil, Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, and Chile. Thank you Barb.
Some lucky attendees went home happy, winning a variety of prizes, including a 50/50 draw, two Jets tickets, a romance basket, four Moose tickets, a handmade quilt, and a lottery ticket tree. We also drew the winning tickets for our special "Lower the Temperature" cash draw, with proceeds dedicated to replacing our air conditioner.
A new highlight of the evening was the Photo Booth provided by Kenrein PhotoBooth. Many guests took the opportunity to capture fun moments with their friends and family.
The dancing was especially vibrant thanks to the talents of our DJ, Terrence Mazon. The hall came alive with a kaleidoscope of flashing lights, casting bursts of neon colours across the room in perfect sync with the music.
A big thank you to all our volunteers, including the ticket sellers, bartenders, and those who helped set up, decorate, and clean the hall. We also want to express our gratitude to Jamie, our Masters of Ceremonies, Gloria, who handled sponsorship, Landon who created the sponsorship video and Joanne, our event chairperson. All our volunteers worked together seamlessly to make this event a great success!
A heartfelt thanks to the 20 businesses who sponsored the event. A complete list of sponsors, along with their website links, is available on our website.