Independent the
Stettler SERVING THE
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June 10, 2015 STETTLER, ALBERTA
VOLUME ONE-HUNDRED NINE NUMBER TWENTY-THREE PM40011853 R08546
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OF CENTRAL ALBERTA FOR 108 YEARS
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Stacey Lavallie/Independent reporter
It was a trip back to the 1950s at this year’s Awesome Auction, with many guests dressing up in theme and travelling from far and wide to take a gander at the many items up for grabs, including a long-time HYC volunteer Lloyd Smith’s ‘56 Pontiac Laurentian. Seen here are just some of the more than 300 guests who came to the event, from left, Angie and Cam McCrindle, Cam and Stacey Martz, David Frizzell, Teresa Dolan, and Brian and Erin Prehn.
Awesome Auction rocks around the clock raising money for kids Stacey Lavallie INDEPENDENT REPORTER It was a trip back to the ‘50s for supporters of the Heartland Youth Center at the annual Awesome Auction on Saturday, June 6, as people opened their wallets and their hearts to boost Stettler’s youth programs. The “Flashback to the ‘50s” fundraiser for the Big Brothers Big Sisters programs in Stettler drew in hungry members of the community for a lobster and steak dinner, followed by a live
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auction and music. During the entire evening, silent auctions were ongoing as bidders tried to out-do each other on items donated by generous business members of the community. The annual event started 23 years ago as a “humble radio auction,” but after a few years, faced with overwhelming generosity from the community’s businesses, expanded to a dinner and live auction and has been going strong ever since. The annual event ran the usual
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gamut of donated custom and unique items, all donated by local businesses and families, but this year featured a special item that had never before graced the auction: a car. In this case, the car – a 1956 Pontiac Laurentian – was more than just a set of wheels. It had belonged to one of the youth centre’s longest, most hard-working volunteers, Lloyd Smith. Over 17 years, Smith raised more than $71,000 through the annual Bowl for Kids event, only missing the event once but still send-
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ing in a donation that year. When Smith passed away in 2011, he left his car to a young man he had gotten to know through the youth centre as a child, Charlie Thurston. Thurston, who now lives in the States but works overseas, realized the car would end up sitting, unused, and chose to donate it to the youth centre to auction off. “(It’s) a donation he knew would make Lloyd proud,” Winnie Bisset, executive director at the youth centre, said. continued on page 8
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