WEYBURN - The Weyburn Communithon finished off the air late Friday night as they held their air band competition with a “boom-bastic” finish, and reached the final tally of $91,955 with more donations still rolling in.
The goal had been $98,000, in honour of long-time contributor and performer Kathryn Groshong, who marked her 98th birthday this year.
The day kicked off at 8 a.m. with the marching on of the colours, the singing of O Canada by the Weyburn Comp’s RISE Choir, and a recitation by Jean Fahlman of her annual original poem for the event.
The day’s entertainment included several groups and choirs from the city’s schools, as well as local performers ranging from dance to singing.
The Monster Mash was held with many children coming in costumes to dance for the audience to Halloween music.
Some new fun competitions were held this year, including the Office Olympics just before the school groups began, and in the evening, the “Minute to Win It” contest was held and the air band competition took the broadcast right past 11 p.m.
The Minute to Win It contest featured the Weyburn Comp Eagles football team versus the U18 AAA Gold Wings hockey team.
As the Gold Wings ended up beating the Eagles in their competition, including in the air band competition, four Gold Wings got to pie four Eagles, after the Communithon went off the air.
One of the highlights of the day was an ongoing effort to raise $800 so that committee member Dallen Hodgkin would sing a song from the musical “Annie”, in which she had a starring role some 20 years ago. After a pledge brought them close late in the evening, announcer Jordan Szczecinski said she would make up the balance so that Dallen would sing.
A few moments later, with microphone in hand, she sang the song “Tomorrow”, after apologizing that she really hadn’t sang it since 20 years before.
Vice-chair of Communithon, Lindsay Manko-Bauche, commented, “We had a very exciting Communithon. We came to a screeching finish, a ‘boom-bastic’ finish, a fantastic finish. The air bands were an overwhelming success, and we ended up taking it right down to the wire.”
The final total of $91,955 was brought to her as she was interviewed, and she pointed out that the donations were still rolling in as the committee and volunteers began taking the equipment down for the telethon.
“We want to thank the community of Weyburn for the support they show us each and every year, and we can’t wait to see everyone for the 44th annual Communithon next year, especially those air bands,” she said.
Manko-Bauche will be the chair for next year’s fundraiser.
The draw for the 50/50 was made, and Travis Franklin was drawn as the winner.
Nick Coroluick, who did the morning announcing along with co-host Lindsee Michel, paid tribute to the Communithon committee for their work on the day, as he commented on a Facebook post by the Review.
“The purpose of the telethon process is to raise the required monies for the different agencies involved, and you are accomplishing this very well. The culture of Communithon is the community coming together on a common and exciting cause. This is the tough part,” he said. “I’m so proud of the committee in leading our citizens and bringing this vibrance back to our city. Thank you for saving the Communithon legacy!”
