You could say it's a success before it's even started.
Even before it is officially underway, the 2014 Arcola Street Dance and Slow Pitch Tournament has received an overwhelming response from citizens, both private and corporate, from the area which the Moose Mountain Health Care Recruitment Committee and the Arcola Health Centre serve.
Originally planned as a one-day event to benefit the recruitment committee to take place on August 23, the slow pitch action will now commence late Friday, Aug. 22 at the Arcola Ball Diamond and continue all day Saturday.
Organizer Cheryl Bell of Arcola says, "Actually, due to demand, we're starting Friday night. Even with two [ball] diamonds and eight teams, we had to turn away at least that many more. We're now starting Friday and ball will go all day Saturday."
The mixed, all ages teams represent a cross-section of the communities which the Arcola Health Centre serves.
"There are teams from Carlyle, Estevan, Stoughton, Pheasant Rump and White Bear First Nations and four teams from Arcola," Bell says. "The slow pitch tournament is a fun event and it's free of charge for everyone."
The Street Dance [open to ages 19 and up] featuring the band Third Degree Birnz of Regina, starts at 8 pm. At 7 pm, "rink burgers with Arcola's famous rodeo sauce," round out the barbeque, according to Bell. Admission to the street dance is $20 per person and drink tickets are $5 each, with no pre-sales.
"We're blocking off Main Street in Arcola, from the Cenotaph on," says Bell. "When we started planning things in April, the first thing we did was book the band, and they're a great band for this kind of event."
"We're also hosting a huge beer pong tournament. And I'd like to stress that it is not at all necessary to drink in order to participate," says Bell. "It's intended to be a fun [two-person] team event. It's $20 per person to enter, with a cash payout. And there will also be 50-50 tickets for sale at the dance."
Bell says that she and her cousin, Katie Walter of the Color Me Crazy hair salon in Arcola, first came up with the idea of bringing the street dance back to Arcola last summer.
"It's our first time planning anything like this," says Bell. "We absolutely used to have a street dance in Arcola. In the beginning, Katie and I thought it was an idea to do something for fun, but now it's blossomed into something that will benefit a good cause."
Bell says the response from area businesses "has been overwhelming "and has enabled organizers to maximize the amount they will donate to the recruitment committee.
"I haven't asked anyone for monetary donations," she says. "And except for paying the band, the event will generate pure profit."
"The donations in kind that we've received from area businesses has allowed us to creatively pull together to put on this event. Chapman's in Arcola is supplying the food and JJ Trucking is supplying the barbeque. Eagle Oilfield Service helped us out with the printing, including wristbands for the dance," Bell continues.
"As for the dance, our corporate supporters are supplying specialty equipment and expertise so that it can go ahead. TPZ is loaning us the flatbed trailer for the stage and Lees' Sales and Service is supplying the generator set and light panel for the band to use. And Bear Claw Casino is giving us a big tent to use for beer pong."
"We just found out today that Billy Slykhuis is supplying us with all of the port-a-potties."
"And Arcola Co-op is basically supplying everything we need to build the beer garden. They're giving us the corral panels to build it and even the trough for the beer,"says Bell.
Bell, who grew up in Arcola, returned to live there from Toronto.
"I moved back here to be closer to family," she says. "The one thing I missed when I was in Toronto was the community connection that you lose in a bigger centre. But no matter where someone lives, a hospital is so important. That's why I'm sure everyone in the area understands and appreciates the work that the recruitment committee does in getting doctors and other medical professionals to our hospital."
Brenda Walter of Arcola has been a member of the recruitment committee since its beginning, in 2006. Along with Sheila Sim of Arcola, Lynn Brady of Carlyle and Bev Grimes of Kenosee Lake, Walter remembers when the hospital was forced to close due to a doctor shortage.
"Just the fact that I've lived here all my life and my children and my aging parents are making their homes here, makes it important to me that we have a hospital in the area," Walter says. "I worked at the hospital in Arcola for 30 years. It's a busy area and the emergencies that come through are phenomenal. It's even more crucial with the oil activity and the population growth that we have a hospital here."
Walter says the committee's work uses "much-needed funds to retain health-care professionals wherever there's a need. When we first started, we needed [Registered Nurses], so we worked on getting nurses."
"Basically, we do whatever we can to retain whatever medical professionals are needed."
Walter says funds for advertising, incentives when necessary, and even for housing and housing needs, such as furniture, "for doctors who come and practice here."
"We also make phone calls and reach out. We've even gone as far as making numerous phone calls to past and present area residents to see if they are interested in coming back and working here."
Walter says that the challenges of medical staffing are important and ongoing.
"The Moose Mountain Health Centre Recruitment Committee is a very small group of people, so someone putting on a fundraiser is phenomenal," she says. The support that we do receive from the surrounding towns is wonderful."
However, Walter says that fundraising is both necessary and ongoing. "We're already looking toward our annual Christmas Dinner Theatre at Prairie Place," adding that people can also directly donate to the recruitment committee.
Bell urges everyone to come out to the 2014 edition of the Arcola Street Dance and Slow Pitch Tournament, "Because what the recruitment committee does affects the entire area, not just Arcola."
For more information, contact Cheryl at (289)-259-5432.
