UNITY — With planning starting in the spring of 2022, the Kin Club of Unity brought in comedian Quick Dick McDick for their Telemiracle 2023 fundraiser. As the Feb. 10 performance date got closer, the event grew to include shaving of heads.
Darien Rae of 93.3 The Rock radio station in North Battleford started the head shaving movement, by contacting Nora Aldred, president, to see if the club was doing a TM fundraiser this year. She wanted to contribute by shaving her head in Unity.
Aldred’s oldest daughter, Hailey-lynn, then decided she wanted to help raise funds as well. Aldred said the 16-year-old Grade 10 student “shaved her head as she loves what Telemiracle is all about, she sees us volunteering all the time and for my cousin who had no choice but to shave her head due to cancer treatment.”
The zone deputy governor, Chris Zerr of Maidstone, threw his hat into the ring as well, getting his head shaved. Zerr is the president of the Kin Club of Maidstone.
Posters were put up around town and funds solicited in support of Telemiracle 47 and the head-shaving. Guests attending the event were encouraged to dress 1980s-style to add some additional colour and fun to the evening.
McDick performed at the Unity Community Centre for a crowd of 350 paying patrons. Aldred said all 350 tickets sold within three and a half days of the show announcement in the fall.
Aldred also said McDick entertained for twice as long as originally scheduled to, recognizing the evening was a TM fundraiser and noticing that “the crowd seemed to be loving it.” She added he even “gave back some money” from his merchandise sales, which the club was not expecting.
McDick’s stories, showing the funny side of rural life and relatable to anyone who has grown up on a farm or in a small town, were followed by – not three but – four people going up on the stage to have their heads shaved.
As the three previously announced “shavees” took their places on stage, Jesse Lang of Unity volunteered to join them – if at least an additional $1,000 was raised. While a few people offered up smaller amounts, Riley Wallace and James Alexander stepped in with large donations to have the honour of shaving Lang themselves.
Aldred said about an additional $2,000 was donated over the course of the evening. While final numbers are not yet determined, Aldred thinks they will be able to donate approximately $11,000 to TM. People can still add to the total and donate through the Unity Kin Club until Feb. 24, by etransferring to [email protected] or dropping off a cheque or cash at What the Float on Main Street in Unity.
Aldred, daughter Hailey-lynn and her younger daughter Sage will be making an on-air presentation sometime Saturday evening, Feb. 25, as well as helping out at the event behind the scenes.
