All of the work that led up to the Local Legends event paid off.
During my year as president of Ladysmith Rotary Club, our club, along with four other clubs in the Cowichan Valley, committed to raise funds to create the Rotary Gardens at the Cowichan Hospice House which will soon be under construction.
Many more photos available at
- Photos by Gerry Beltgens
For the past two years I’ve had the pleasure of attending a house concert at the home of David and Cecilia Grimstead. They both have had careers in music and have retired in Ladysmith. They along with friends, Malcolm Page on drums, Ron Brown on Saxophone and John Hyde on bass make up Crazy Still with Friends. After thoroughly enjoying musical evenings in their home I really wanted to see them play in a larger venue. 
During my year as president of Ladysmith Rotary Club, our club, along with four other clubs in the Cowichan Valley, committed to raise funds to create the Rotary Gardens at the Cowichan Hospice House which will soon be under construction. We heard such compelling stories about families who had lost loved ones to lengthy illnesses and how, in the last days of their lives, families and the patient were moved in to the staff lunch room at Cowichan Hospital to share last moments. There are no palliative care beds – no rooms set aside for dying. Patients in their last moments of life were sharing rooms with other patients, some recovering from surgeries. There is no privacy and often a lot of chaos. The Cowichan Hospice House, when built, will initially house seven patients with the capacity to house ten. There will be a kitchen and lounge areas so families can feel quite at home in the facility. The average hospice stay is 16 days. The gardens will provide an area of respite, quiet seating areas, children’s play areas, pathways that will accommodate a bed being moved to the outdoors, and gardens.
I had coffee with Ryan McMahon one say and floated the idea of having a musical evening with a variety of artists and he was in right away, and offered helpful advice. From there I asked my neighbour, Ray Materick, if he would be interested in such an event. He was immediately agreeable to it. I contacted an old friend, Gary Atkinson, who plays in a couple of bands, one of which is Beatlemania Unplugged and asked if they would participate in our event. He consulted with his bandmates, John and Charlene Booth, Rob Mitchell and Mark Williams. They also were in agreement. David and Cecilia also felt they and their band could participate in the evening. I told them all the gig paid nothing and no one batted an eye.
I had meetings with Randy Huber, the managing director and Nick Caulford, the executive chef, at Chemainus Theatre Festival. They were so accommodating. Michael Pickard, who has been an auctioneer at a number of our Rotary events and does the job so well and with such great humour, immediately agreed to be our MC for the evening.Nicking a page out of the local Kiwanis fundraiser, I thought it might be fun to add a little gambling in the lower lobby. The Chemainus Rotary club has blackjack tables and roulette wheels and lots of funny money. The Chemainus Rotarians along with Anna Androski, ran the gambling. I wasn’t sure how it would go over, but the gambling option was a hit. There was a lot of laughter and cheers coming from the lower lobby. At the end of the evening, a strawberry rhubarb pie donated by Old Town Bakery in Ladysmith sold for $250,000.00 (funny money) to the Royal Bank table. It was hilarious to watch the gang at the 49th Parallel Grocery table and the group from the bank soliciting moneys from other guests so they could up their ante.
A silent auction was held in the upper lobby. There were a few door prizes. Panago Pizza generously donated coupons for all the patrons plus additional gift certificates for door prizes. Ryan donated a few of his CD’s In Line for a Smile. The entire evening flew by. The musicians were excellent. Everyone seemed to be having a good time – so much laughter. At the end of the evening, most of the guests were up and dancing to the Beatles tunes. 
Dean Richards from myladysmith.com videoed much of the evening and I’m looking forward to seeing that on his website. Dean has been doing a wonderful job of covering local events. Ed Bain from Chek TV heard about our fundraiser and sent us a nice cheque. By the time the dust settles, we will have netted just under $10,000.00 for our evening.
In May, we Rotarians held the Red Neck Barn Dance. In June, a number of us held yard sales and donated the proceeds to the Rotary Gardens. Next up on our fundraising list is a raffle for some great travel prizes and a couple of diamond rings. Tickets should be available in October and will make great Christmas stocking stuffers!