MOOSE JAW — The third annual Greek Night held May 11 at the Moose Jaw Events Centre was viewed as a wonderful success and brought the community together in an evening of charity and cultural celebration in support of the Downtown Moose Jaw Association (DMJA) and Tourism Moose Jaw (TMJ).
This year’s event also saw record attendance and a new profit record to match.
“We have a few little Ts to cross and Is to dot, but right about now we’re sitting at … $40,000 total profit …,” said Jacki L’Heureux-Mason, the executive director of TMJ.
L’Heureux-Mason said the trend in participation has been steadily growing. In the event’s first year the goal was to sell 200 tickets and approximately 300 were sold. The second year projected 300 and saw 352 sold, and this year’s event projected 350 tickets and had 380 sold.
For context, the Regina-based analogue “Evening in Greece” sold 720 tickets this year despite a much larger comparative population.
“We’re really, really pleased with that consistent growth,” L’Heureux-Mason said.
These proceeds will be evenly split between TMJ and the DMJA to support each organization’s respective projects. To date, approximately $90,000 has been raised from the Greek Night.
For TMJ, she said the proceeds will “literally help us exist” this year.
“From Tourism Moose Jaw’s perspective, (the fundraiser) has been a godsend.”
In the first two years of the fundraiser, TMJ set aside its share of the proceeds for a down payment on a federal government grant. If the funds weren’t available, L’Heureux-Mason said, the organization would have to rely on a loan in the ballpark of $17,000 from a local partner. Thanks to the Greek Night, this loan wasn’t necessary.
With a delayed federal grant this spring, the non-profit will rely on its share of proceeds to maintain operations from hiring summer students to trolley repairs to advertising.
For the DMJA, previous funds were used to install new Christmas lights in Moose Jaw’s downtown core, along with similar beautification efforts. L’Heureux-Mason, who is a member of the DMJA board, said this year’s projects are still in the works and to “keep your eyes open for a plan.”
This year’s Greek Night was described as “a lot of fun” and L’Heureux-Mason said two highlights — aside from the traditional plate smashing of course — were the energy and vibrance of the traditional Greek dancers and a new variation of the game “heads or tails.”
“We came up with a new version of the old school game heads or tails and we called it ‘rack or rump,’” she explained. To play the game, one participant flips a coin and instead of touching their head or posterior, the new variant saw participants simulate moose antlers or a tail respective to the coin’s outcome.
John Iatridis, owner of The Mad Greek, said his highlight of the night was the positive atmosphere.
“The big thing for me,” he said, “is… (seeing) the dance floor full. That tells me people are having fun.”
L’Heureux-Mason said this year’s Greek Night had been a wonderful experience.
“I just love that so many people are willing to put in their time and talents… to help us build such a beautiful and fun event,” she said. “We couldn’t do it without the sponsors.”
This year’s title sponsor was WINMAR Moose Jaw.
“It’s been really nice to work with an organization that has some Greek roots… We really do appreciate having them be such a big sponsor,” she said about WINMAR.
For a full list of event sponsors, visit TMJ's Facebook page, 'Tourism Moose Jaw.'
The Greek Night is an annual fundraising event and will take place next in the spring of 2025.
