February 29 only comes by every four years and Mother Nature decided to make it memorable. For the organizers of the Pyrogy Supper and Kaiser Tournament that was scheduled for that evening at the St. Michael’s Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Lepine, it was “the show must go on”. In past years the members of the church have run a snowmobile rally as their annual fundraiser, but this year they decided to host a supper and Kaiser tournament instead. The advertisements had been hung and 25 teams had signed up for the tournament so storm or not, the evening was to go forward as planned. Carey Oleksyn and Frank Galombos have organized Kaiser tournaments at the hall before, but this was the first time doing it with a supper before. Donations of items for door prizes and raffle items came from a wide area, from Wakaw to Saskatoon, Prince Albert to Humboldt, Alvena to Yellow Creek and many places in between. Many people came out for the supper and then stayed to visit and enjoy the evening while watching the tournament. Mother Nature for her part, did hold off on the worst of the storm until the tournament was almost over, but there will be a few tales told about the trip home from the Hall.
As with fundraisers in the past, the members of the church were very thankful for all the volunteers who helped out in the kitchen. Without the ever-generous donation of time from friends, neighbours, and family events such as this would not be possible. The same of course is to be said for the people who come out, without the individuals who buy tickets and support the event, there would be no event, and without the donations from businesses old and new the event would not be as successful as it has always been.
Carol Baldwin, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The Wakaw Recorder