The annual 100 Mile Lions Club Dinner and Auction at the 100 Mile Community Hall on Nov. 2 was a roaring success.
100 Mile Lions treasurer Kim Taylor says the event raised slightly more than $7,000 for local charities.
"The people who were there were awesome and really supported us, so it went very well."
A rousing live auction, silent auction, bucket draws and door prizes kept the crowd well entertained.
The door prize of $500 in Chamber Bucks was won by lucky local resident Marilyn Vinson.
Two sets of Vancouver Canucks tickets were among the great many great items snapped up by the highest bidders.
A scrumptious chicken-and-lasagne dinner with salad and Black Forest cake pleased palates and eased appetites, Taylor adds.
"Pat and Al from BJ's Donuts & Eatery did a great job once again this year."
A highlight of the evening was when District of 100 Mile House Mayor Mitch Campsall manned the gavel in a pair of lion-print shorts he had also donned at the 2012 event, she notes.
Taylor explains the bidder back then had both bought the shorts and coerced the mayor to wear them again this time around.
"Those shorts were made by another Lion member; they were auctioned off last year and they came back. So, he modelled them and then they were auctioned again."
She notes this time Lion Neil VanderHorst scored the shorts with a top bid of $80.
The other auctioneers were Timothy Lake resident Wally Gilfoy, and Lion Ron Graves, who also co-hosted the ceremonies with Lion president Judy Linnell.
Everyone was assisted and egged on by 100 Mile Lion, the club's fuzzy, friendly mascot.
With this being the club's major fundraiser of the year, the dinner-auction is always a popular community event.
Taylor says attendance numbers were down a bit this year due to the inclement weather, bad roads and a concurrent event. Nevertheless, significant funds were raised, she explains, which the 100 Mile Lions will, as always, put to good use within the local community.