The Chapeau Lions hosted a fundraiser dance on Saturday night to raise money for the $80,000-generator the club plans to buy for the Harrington Community Centre.
The night featured live music from Ryan Ziggs and the Zags, as well as a cash bar, late lunch and 50/50 draw.
The community centre’s board has already raised money from various fundraisers, plus an additional $20,000 it won in May from the Municipality of L’Isle-aux-Allumettes’ participatory budget initiative.
“We probably still have about $20,000 to go,” said board president David “Yogi” Brisard before the event, adding that the Lions Club has also donated about $25,000 toward the project.
Brisard said the board wants to have the 100-kilowatt diesel generator to keep the centre open as an emergency shelter in case of power outages or other emergencies.
“The power goes out here quite often, and some people have no place to go if they want a hot coffee or something like that. We’re not an emergency centre yet but we’re trying to get there,” he said.
Brisard said the generator would run both the community centre and the arena, where there are stoves for cooking as well as hot showers that people can use in case of emergency.
Treasurer Louis Mitchell said the totals from the evening were still being tabulated on Monday, but that the dance was a success in getting the community centre closer to buying the generator.
