Stoughton was home to a hypnotist and a fun-filled evening on Dec. 8 when Jesse Lewis and a number of audience members took to the stage in order to raise money for the SRC.
With more than 95 people in attendance at this year's fundraiser, the Student Representative Council (SRC) saw almost double the attendance from last year, making it obvious just how great of an event the group hosts.
"The fundraiser was an SRC event that is used to give back to the students, said Carlee Wyatt, one of the teachers who helped with the organization of the event. The intent is "to provide various activities, including the funding of athletics and activities that are for the students and our school community."
With $400 raised at this year's event, organizers felt the event was a hit in terms of entertainment in addition to being a great fundraiser. "The event was successful in regards to the enjoyment for the audience and the participants," said Wyatt. "This is a very fun, family-friendly activity, was enjoyable for all age groups and was well-perceived by the audience."
"The audience first volunteered to participate in the act of being hypnotised. There were 15 people who volunteered to be hypnotised and in the end there were 10 people whom it was successful for."
"At many points throughout the show, participants were interacting with the audience for such actions as finding a ringing phone that was a shoe and finding someone to scratch their butt on because they had the worlds' worst itch. This interaction was found to be very enjoyable for the crowd with many people who were in tears of laughter."
"There were community members who purchased tickets and used the event as part of their Christmas party, or as a way to show their appreciation for their co-workers. The communitysupport has been greatly appreciated, and will be appreciated in regards to future fundraisers as well," said Wyatt.
But the organizers and the crowd weren't the only ones to think the event went over well. "I feel the performance went really well," said Jesse Lewis, the hypnotist on hand. "I work with all types of audiences and some are really animated like last night. It makes the show more entertaining and fun."
"The crowd in Stoughton is just like any other crowd I perform for. They all looked like they were having fun from up on stage, and that is all I could ask from them."
"My favourite part of performing for school/family type audiences is that the shows have to be completely clean. No swearing or shenanigans. It is nice to be able to do a nice clean family show and still be entertaining. A lot of entertainers take the low road and do off-collar jokes and dirty shows, which there is really no need for. I like this type of audience for the challenge of keeping it clean," stated Lewis.As for his favourite part of the Stoughton show? "That is a hard question," said Lewis. "I like all of the skits. But this time of year, it is the Santa skit, simply because I give people what they want and it's good to see their excitement when they see Santa. It also gets the audience involved and I love doing that."For anyone interested in having Lewis provide entertainment for their event, they can contact him at 1-888-241-7165 or by email at [email protected] for more information. There, you can gain information "not only about me, but about several other performers I work with," said Lewis. "We do all types of events, but they are always clean with no dirty material. It's a great show for schools, corporations, and service clubs."
And don't forget to keep an eye open for future SRC events held at Stoughton Central School. "Throughout the year there will be more events to support the actions of the school including "Candy-Grams", "Cake-Walks" a "Wake-a-thons" and various hat days," said Wyatt. If this past event is any indicator of what is yet to come, you won't be disappointed.
