Record-breaking ticket sales and a whole lot of community spirit as Lobsterfest returns after a two-year hiatus

After two years of longing for a plate of delicious East Coast lobster while raising necessary funds for the community, Lobsterfest celebrated its long-awaited return on Saturday, May 7. The top-rated event, which has been happening for over two decades, allows the Whitecourt Rotary Club to raise significant funds for community initiatives.

Holly Astill, Rotary Community Chair and President-Elect, said that everyone was looking forward to it. “Given the community’s response with our donations and ticket sales, I think everyone is very excited about it. We are completely sold out. Everyone has been extremely generous in contributing prizes and silent auction items. We are suspecting it’s going to be a very successful evening.”

If ticket sales were any indication of success, then she is absolutely correct because tickets sold out in record-breaking fashion. As emails went out during the planning stages in February/March, it was clear that people were eager to see the event come back. “I think people were ready. They were under the understanding that if things weren’t looking good (COVID-wise) that we might have to cancel, but people were still very positive. We had responses coming in immediately to say that they were coming.”

Nevis Prufer holds many hats in the Whitecourt Rotary Club, including Lobsterfest Chair, Rotary Foundation Chair, and District Community Service Chair and has held the roles of President and Secretary in the past. She, along with about twenty Rotarians and several Friends of Rotary volunteers, put together the event. “It’s definitely a team effort. If we don’t have the community support and we don’t have the support from our members, it wouldn’t happen.”

The lobsters fly in from the East Coast on Friday and are picked up by Whitecourt Transport. They hang out in a refrigerated truck overnight before being brought to St. Joseph Hall, fresh as fresh can be. Prufer said that the continued support of the evening was phenomenal. “We had overwhelming support from the businesses in town. They have been extremely generous with cash donations and in kind. We couldn’t do the projects in the community without our community backing us.”

Lobsterfest is the only event the Rotary Club of Whitecourt does each year. During the two off years of COVID, they did an online auction but preferred to stick to one big event. “I hope that the community feels we are good stewards of our money. The majority stays in the community. We also do some international projects, but we give about $70,000 back to this community every year. We’ve also donated over a million dollars in capital projects (Rotary).” Prufer credits the partners, sponsors, and community supporters for making it possible.

The impact of the Rotary Club of Whitecourt is visible everywhere, and dollars raised through Lobsterfest are why. “We are able to help the Town of Whitecourt with promoting Rotary Park. We helped with the pavilion. We helped with Festival Way. We did the playground. To name a few things that happened in Rotary Park.”

Rotarians support free public skating and swimming events and provide family range day passes. The Whitecourt club sponsors the Rotary running track at the AJMC and funds the Rotary Summer Unplugged Program. They also provide high school scholarships each year. “We do our Youth Adventure Program where we can send youth from fifteen to seventeen years old to adventure programs like Forestry, Environmental Studies, Photography, Citizenship, and Leadership. These are all camps fully funded by the Rotary Club,” explained Prufer.

Thanks to generous donations for silent auction prizes and those who purchase tickets, the Whitecourt Rotary Club does all these things and so much more. Another big project they provide is the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. “The program provides books to children aged 0-5 years old. That’s like three thousand books a year that we put into this community,” explained Prufer. “We had an anonymous sponsor during COVID to run it because that program costs us $20,000 a year. It’s beautiful because children receive a book in the mail every month.”

Prufer said she couldn’t say enough about Whitecourt’s community spirit. “Even after two years of COVID, when we knocked on people’s doors, they still helped us. It’s remarkable. It’s a collaborative effort for us to put this on with our community, and it’s a lot of work, but we have lots of fun too. It’s always a good party!” Those interested in joining the Whitecourt Rotary Club are encouraged to visit www.rotaryclubofwhitecourt.org and click on “Becoming a Member.”