(from Headline magazine, winter 2009)
In all her hundred years, the old girl had never seen the likes of belly dancers on the main floor. She’d seen everything
from classical music performances to big band to burlesque, but belly dancing was entirely new. The unique music, brilliant costumes and perfectly executed sinuous moves entranced the dance’s guests. Then, as the lights dimmed and the belly dancers exited the floor, the fund-raising festivities of the Powell River Brain Injury Society’s 6th Annual Blues Revue began.
The guests, many of them in Arabian Nights-themed attire, continued the festivities to the tunes of Incognito, a renowned Vancouver blues band. Many of them began with a stroll past the silent auction tables laden with gift prizes donated by community vendor and individual sponsors. Values of the prizes ranged from $40 to $600, with unexpected bidding wars over favored items. Other entertainments included a 50/50 drawing, a black jack casino and a balloon extravaganza and, of course, dancing.
Although the community sponsors were generous, the economic times did limit the attendance and the ability of the community to support not-for-profit fund-raising. In spite of financial stresses, though, we did achieve a modest goal that supports our members’ activities. We look forward to next year’s event and better financial times for all.
One of the main objectives for having this event is to raise awareness in our community not only of our society and the services we provide but also of the number one message we are trying to get out of the need for prevention.
We have a new prevention presentation team “The Heads Up Crew” who are busy overhauling our programming of the past and making new contacts for presentations in the coming year. Not only do we attend at the school district level, we have now branched out into the community and are scheduling meetings with the business community and industry including forestry and construction. Although fund-raising is a main priority, awareness and prevention are also major components of each event. We endeavor to have fun while educating on the need for prevention and so far so good. One of our major projects for the coming year is a statistical study of several areas of ABI in our community – we look forward to sharing our results when our studies are complete.