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Mardi Gras fundraiser goes for another year

Feb 3, 2017 | 11:00 AM

The Battlefords will get a little taste of New Orleans this weekend with the Battlefords Trade and Education Centre’s (BTEC) Mardi Gras fundraiser.

The Mardi Gras Magic dinner, dance, and silent auction is one of the organization’s major fundraising events through the year, according to Diane Aulinger with BTEC.

“In the past it had been for the new building fund. Now what will be happening is that the money raised will be used for furnishings and specialized equipment for our new building for our participants,” Aulinger said. “It has been one of our major, major fundraisers for getting us to where we are now. “

Last year, a little over $53,000 was raised.

“There’s a dance. Throughout the event we have a silent auction, we have a live auction, we have draws and raffles that go on throughout the evening and all of the proceeds come to BTEC for our fundraising activities,” she said. “People can come in costume if they like or just whatever they’re comfortable with but we have the Mardi Gras masks and beads and the place is all decorated in a Mardi Gras theme.”

Roughly 300 to 340 people are expected at the event with tickets nearly sold out.

“For the last couple of years, we’ve actually had a brass band that plays prior to the event starting and throughout as people are arriving with New Orleans music, the kind of things that you would think to hear at Mardi Gras. It’s just a whole lot of fun,” Aulinger said.

The Mardi Gras Magic dinner, dance and silent auction will be held at the Don Ross Center on Saturday Feb. 4.

 

Katherine.svenkeson@jpbg.ca

On Twitter @ksvenkeson