OXBOW - Lobsterfest is the Oxbow Pool’s main annual fundraiser, and it was held June 17 at the Oxbow rink.
Having taken over the event in 2000, the pool committee has been hosting the evening ever since, apart from a few missed years, and this was its 20th year.
Entertainment included a silent auction, 50/50 tickets and a dance with a live band. This year’s ticket sales of 235, which were sold and tracked by Oxbow Agencies, make this event a success.
Teagan Batt, who is on the Oxbow Swimming Pool Committee, shared how so many people volunteered their time to put on the event.
“It is completely community-led,” she said.
From the pool board’s seven members planning, to the local community and business that contribute in doing their small part, it all came together to make the whole event what it was.
It started and ended with the Oxbow Prairie Horizons School girls’ and boys’ basketball teams. They set up tables and chairs on Friday and cleaned them up and put away on Sunday. The Southern Plains Co-op provided mix for the Oxbow-Enniskillen Fire Department to sling behind the bar. The Oxbow Lions Club cooked the potatoes and beans, while the Estevan Oilfield Technical Society came with their barbecues and large steel propane boilers to cook up the steak and lobster onsite.
There was a plethora of desserts to choose from, thanks to the Expressway Family Centre appeals and organization of the community gathered trays of desserts.
If people were looking for a more adult dessert to end your evening, Jell-O shots and wine were available at the shooter bar which was run by community members, as were the door shifts, and ticket sales of liquor, 50/50s and fun tickets for the grand prize of the wheelbarrow of booze.
Sixty-five items were given by local business and community organizations for the silent auction.
“They always come through for us.” Batt said.
At the end of the meal, on two trailers that had been backed up in the arena, the band Back 40 Drifters, which describes themselves as “rock solid country”, played so people could dance. Amber Christensen DJed between the band’s sets.
“Money raised helps to fund our pool loan repayment,” Batt explained.
The money also contributes to repairs, covering the costs of the National Lifesaving Course incentive to retain lifeguards, Aquasize classes, and lane swimming.
“We also might have to replace our boiler.”
Last year’s event generated $26,000 for the pool.
