Skip to content

Stettler’s Heartland Youth Centre holds “best event ever” Awesome Auction

The evening of June 4 was a big night for the staff and youth of Stettler’s Heartland Youth Centre (HYC).
29616885_web1_220707-STI-Awesome-Auction_2
Executive director Winnie Bissett, auction mistress of ceremonies Tana Nixon and HYC supporter Brenda Esquirol dressed up in the “Roaring 20s” theme. (Photo submitted)

The evening of June 4 was a big night for the staff and youth of Stettler’s Heartland Youth Centre (HYC).

After a couple years of difficulties for the organization because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the youth centre was once again able to host their major fundraiser of the year to a sell-out crowd.

With planning getting underway in March, very late compared to usual due to the health restrictions in effect until that point, the nearly 90 volunteers set to work on the Awesome Auction.

“It might have been our best event ever,” said HYC executive director Winnie Bissett.

In spite of the event taking place nearly a month ago, Bissett and the volunteers are still calculating how much was raised with the event, though she does feel comfortable saying at least $75,000 was raised for the centre.

Those funds, along with annual funding from the town, fundraising efforts such as the Bowl for Kids, the facility’s landlord of the month program, and a variety of other government and federal grants that are applied for, are used for the day to day operations and programming at the HYC.

Overall, more than 300 parents and community members attended the steak and lobster supper.

Tickets for the event were $60 each and the theme was “The roaring 20s.”

In addition to the supper, both a silent and live auction were held. The silent auction had 82 different items donated by the community while the live auction had 39, including a kayak, a stock car racing experience, tickets to a Calgary Stampeders versus Edmonton Elks football game, and many others.

As usual, the last item to be auctioned off was the HYC Lobster Plaque which was won this year by Gitzel and Company Chartered Professional Accountants for $1,300.

The plaque became part of the Awesome Auction in 2004 and since then has managed to raise $15,500 for the HYC. The winner of the plaque gets to keep it on display in their office or business for the year, and the funds are a straight donation to the centre.

“It shows what a great community we have,” said Bissett.

With the Awesome Auction done for another year the staff and youth of the HYC are looking forward to a busy and activity-filled summer season.

To keep up with everything going on at the HYC, follow them on Facebook.

29616885_web1_220707-STI-Awesome-Auction_3
Katie Wengryn, Deacon Barclay, Jack Timmins and Josh Nixon are several of the HYC teens who helped out at the Awesome Auction on June 4. (Photo submitted)
29616885_web1_220707-STI-Awesome-Auction_4
Claude Dupont is one of two volunteer auctioneers at the HYC Awesome Auction and has helped out for over 20 years. (Photo submitted)


Kevin Sabo

About the Author: Kevin Sabo

I’m Kevin Sabo. I’ve been a resident of the Castor area for the last 12 years and counting, first coming out here in my previous career as an EMT.
Read more