If you are reading this and have not already bought your tickets to the French Night Dinner and Dance, you should hurry in or at least call – the last time I checked there were only 20 or so tickets left and you know as well as I do that we Cariboo people like to wait until the last minute to buy our tickets. You do not want to be disappointed and believe me if you miss this meal, you will be disappointed – skinnier but definitely disappointed. But failing that, if you are interested, for $10 you can still come listen and dance to the tunes played by the New Country Touch. You can purchase these at the door as well It is going to be a really great night.
You’ll notice when you are in the lounge this week that there is a white ballot box. This is for the silent auction bids on a painting entitled “Pelicans at Bouchie Lake”, which was generously donated by local artist Sherry Fraser. All proceeds from this auction go towards Branch 94. The value of this wonderful painting is $600 and the reserve bid is $100. For those of you who do not know what a reserve bid is – and I was one of you, I had to ask – it’s the minimum bid that will be accepted. This means that the bidding starts at $100 and goes up from there. The winner with the highest bid will be announced at the General Meeting on Dec. 6. If you have not had a chance to view the painting come on in and have a cup of coffee – still only $1, lowest in town – and have a look. You will be impressed. And thank you so much to Sherry Fraser for her incredible donation of her time and talents.
Tickets for Ladies Night, scheduled for Sept. 24, are now on sale. You can purchase these at the bar in the lounge for only $5. This will entitle you to admission to the wine and cheese, where you will get the opportunity to watch beautiful young women model jewelry, shoes and purses from Bijoux. We are fortunate to have this representative coming to us from Vancouver to showcase her merchandise. Also on hand will be Heather Hartridge from H3H fitness studio introducing her USANA line of health products; Tracy showcasing her cosmetic tatoo business which is brand new to Quesnel; and Bonnie offering her quality products from Epicure. Think of it as a gift to yourself for Christmas. You can shop for yourself or others and even get a head start on stocking up on those essentials that you absolutely need for entertaining over the holiday season. All for the small price of admission. Did I mention there was wine and cheese? You do not want to miss this event. We are hoping it will turn into an annual event.
After these two events we’ll see the end of September which brings us to October and just watch this lineup. We start the month off on Oct. 4 with our general meeting. Now we know what happened in September – so lets get everyone out, get our quorum and be able to make some decisions. You may also win ROLL CALL, which is over $70 right now, as an extra draw is being done at the general meetings as well as 12:30 p.m. weekdays and 3 p.m. Saturdays.
Following the general meeting on Oct. 5 will be the Veterans’ monthly luncheon. This is always very well attended and for $5 a plate a great deal. Our incredible Ladies Auxiliary always cook up a feast and there are random draw prizes, jokes and a general hour of great food and companionship. If you are having trouble attending, call the office and your manager Wanda may be able to help.
The Legion will be closed for the Thanksgiving holiday on Oct. 10 and following that on Oct. 15 there’s our monthly dance with the Legion’s house band, the New Country Touch bringing you outstanding entertainment and ‘kicking up your heels’ music. Admission is $8 for Legion members and $10 for non-members; $5 from each admission goes towards payment to the band. Come on out and support these talented musicians who do so much to help keep your Legion members entertained.
Each Wednesday and Friday you can enjoy Karaoke with Debbie. The admission to this is $5 at the door to sing your hearts out all night long. All proceeds go to Debbie to support her great effort in -bringing a twice-a-week event for your enjoyment. Debbie supplies all the sound system, music, microphone and of course her encouragement. Why not get together with a group and make it a fun mid-week regular. Try it – you may surprise yourself. And on Wednesday nights, we have dance lessons in the hall with professional dance teacher, Barry Coulter.
Oct. 22 we have an Octoberfest happening. The menu has not be finalized yet, but I hear tell of goulash soup, tar bread (I had to ask about this too – apparently it’s that great, heavy black bread that is heaven to eat) sourkraut, polish sausage, etc. etc. It really is a lot of fun listening to people plan all these wonderful meals – their enthusiasm is quite infectious.
Then – and you can insert a drumroll here – on Oct. 29 is the ever popular and always sold out event NIGHT TO REMEMBER. The menu was also being bantered about for this event – food does seem to crop up in most of our conversations. And of course, entertainment by those ever popular, very talented and I might add, very good looking octet the AFTER EIGHT. If you have never had the pleasure to hear this group you will not want to miss out. They perform a number of songs from the war years and are always very classy in their timely costumes.
Sharon MacDonald is a member of the Quesnel Legion.