Fundraising Dinner

CERCA in partnership with Island Savings hosted the 2016 fundraising dinner celebrating the completion of the first two phases of the Cowichan Estuary Nature Trail Project and raising funds for the implementation of the remaining two phases expected to be completed by 2017. Funds generated are also to be used in support of our exciting new Blue Carbon Project which finally gets off the ground.As venue for the dinner we selected the very fitting and attractive Banquet Room of the Arbutus Ridge Golf Club-House, the same as last year.The attractive venue, the festive atmosphere, musical entertainment by well known performers Will Millar, Michael Creber and for the first time Sam Torrence, attracted an even larger crowd than last year's dinner. We welcomed 110 guests! It was our special honor to host Chief Seymor and his wife from Cowichan Tribes as one of the local dignitaries attending. In his speech the Chief emphasized the good working relationship Cowichan Tribes has developed over the years with CERCA; he specifically mentioned that we share the same values and goals in trying to restore the ecological integrity of the estuary and that we will continue to jointly tackle future challenges.Randy Bertsch, President of Island Savings, highlighted the educational importance of the estuary trail which is sponsored by Island Savings. He emphasized that Island Savings is proud to have partnered with CERCA fully supporting our work. Island Savings had sponsored five tables (40 persons) for the fund-raising dinner. Another table was sponsored by Western Stevedoring with a delegation of 8 persons led by their President Brad Eshleman.After welcoming the guests and providing special Thanks and acknowledgements to CERCA volunteers and corporate sponsors who had provided in-kind contributions to the first two phases of the trail construction, Goetz Schuerholz, Chair of CERCA, highlighted CERCA's achievements during the last year and new projects planned for the coming year via a well received power point presentation ( link to power point). To give a feed-back to last year's guests he illustrated in the presentation how the revenues generated by the 2015 fund-raising dinner in support of the trail have been spent.This presentation was followed by the documentary movie about the first two phases of the trail construction prepared by Tom Shandel and Boon Collins, based on the footage provided by Allan Scott.

The fund-raiser which included a raffle, a silent- and a live auction was again highly successful as reflected by the many positive comments we received from attendees. Of course there is always room for improvement and we learn from experience which will be discussed by the CERCA Board and taken into consideration for the 2017 event.Beate Weber-Schuerholz did an impressive job as overall coordinator of the event. She was assisted by a highly dedicated team, foremost Patti Bailey and Margaret from Island Savings assisted by Island Savings Nancy and Anne. Kudus to Will Datene who formed part of the artist work group with focus on the follow-up art show and sale at the Shibui Fine Art Gallery. Carmen and Jock, owners and operators of the Shibui Gallery, assumed full responsibility for the art part of the event which attracted 20 well-known local artists exhibiting their work dedicated to the estuary at their Gallery. Thanks to both of you! Renate and the two Island Savings Youth Ambassadors allocated to CERCA for the summer had worked hard to attract contributions by local businesses for the raffle and auction. Dinter's Nursery provided again the decorations for the room and Sharron Aitchison and her friend arranged the table decorations. A big Thanks to all of you who  contributed to a memorable evening.The biggest surprise of the evening was the un-expected announcement by owner Bruce of the True Grain Cowichan Bay Bakery that the Bakery will finance the construction of one of the two remaining platforms to be placed at the nature trail ($7,500). We are extremely grateful to Bruce for his most generous donation. This is a reflection of the local support CERCA's initiatives receive, especially from Cowichan Bay Village which appreciates our work in the estuary which benefits tourism on which the Village depends.Local Business Owners who provided contributions to the auction and raffle included:Adam's Tarp & Tools, Arbutus Ridge Golf course, Beachology, Buckerfield's, Cowichan Eyecare, Crowe & Appel,  Roma and George Croy, Chemainus Theatre, Birgitte Meagher, Dinter's Nursery, Heritage House Trophies & Framing, Hilary's Cheese, Jiffy Lube, Jim Pattison Toyota Duncan, Lordco, Monet Spa, Oceanfront Hotel, Radway Studio, the Mudroom Clayworks, Valley Health & Fitness, and True Grain Bakery (over and above their $7,500 donation for one of the platforms along the trail).On behalf of CERCA I like to thank all dinner guests, the performers and all who have contributed to make this evening a success.

Goetz Schuerholz, Chair