In early February 2010 Dawson Ellert was diagnosed with a brain tumor. He underwent surgery to remove the tumor but while recovering he suffered a stroke. He died on Feb. 15, 2010 only a few weeks after his surgery. Dawson was eight-years-old and when he passed away. His parents have since dedicated much of their life to aiding institutions that help and treat children with serious illnesses.
On Dec. 7 at the Stoughton Memorial Hall, Kris and Lana Cheater of Beardown Outfitters and Maximus TV held their second annual banquet auction to raise money for charity.
Carla Ellert, the mother of Dawson started her foundation Skate for Smiles in his memory and has been seeking various ways to help sick children. Kris and Lana Cheater, however, have stepped in to aid her cause.
"Kris and Lana have chosen Skate for Smiles to receive all the donations this evening and then we forward all the proceeds to the Children's Hospital of Saskatoon," Ellert said.
"We held our first Skate for Smiles event in 2011 and this coming March will be our fourth year and we've raised approximately $240,000 for the Children's Hospital so far."
Kris Cheater said Saskatchewan has the best hunting in the world but said he and friends were always seeking better competition for Moose, Elk and Bear hunters. And so the banquet is way to not only raise money but recognize people that hunt animals other than deer.
"We wanted to bring everyone together to give appreciation to the things they hunt and put effort into. We wanted to separate all the categories, women, men, children, bring everyone out and try to raise as much money as we can for a good cause, which is the children's hospital," he said.
He also explained that he came across Carla Ellert's charity through social media and saw what she was trying to do in raising money.
"I brought it to the guys who put this on and hey, they said absolutely...," he said.
"The turnout is unreal, actually if we had a bigger venue we probably could have held 300, 400 people but all we could handle was the ticket sales we brought forth. We're fortunate to be in the middle of the oilfield industry. We have these all these oilfield guys donating for a good cause. "
Lana Cheater also shared her shared her thoughts of the event.
"I'm just glad we could have this event in Stoughton just to raise money for such a great cause, it's been a lot of fun," she said. Devon Hanson of XL Drilling Fields and Cory Finley of Demon Oilfield were the main sponsors of the event but many other sponsors provided items that were auctioned.
