Country musician Gord Bamford performed at the first Pics and Sticks event at Spirit Ridge on May 16. (Dale Boyd / Osoyoos Times)

By Dale Boyd

Osoyoos Times

Golf, hockey, tantalizing auction items and country music spread across the Okanagan Valley last week all for a good cause as the first-ever Pics and Sticks event tentatively raised $50,000 for charity.

“Overall we’re very happy,” said organizer Kevin Primeau. “The live auction went very well. We had guys like (former NHLer) Greg Adams donating back things. He brought a sweater to donate, and when we auctioned it off he added a package to go to a Phoenix Coyotes game.”

The giving spirit was in the air as another attendee at the auction held at Spirit Ridge threw in a place to stay down in Arizona.

“It snowballed, so we were really pleased,” Primeau said.

While the numbers are still being worked out, Primeau said he is hopeful they have reached the goal set for the event’s first year.

“Our goal as a first year event was if we could get over $50,000, that was our goal to put that amount at least back to the community,” Primeau said.

• Read more: Spirit of the Game preparing for another busy year

The funds raised went towards the BC Children’s Hospital, the BC Make-A-Wish Foundation, Spirit of the Game Society, Basics for Babies and area minor hockey associations.

Basics for Babies, an organization which partners with Food Banks BC to ensure infants get the nutrition and basic supplies they need, may be looking to open up in the Okanagan.

“They are looking possibly to open up a chapter in the valley here, so we are trying to keep the funds here,” Primeau said.

The event featured a hockey game with NHL alumni at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton and a country concert for donors with the likes of Gord Bamford. The idea started off small and turned into a multi-day fundraiser throughout the valley, and Primeau is ready to bring it back next year.

“It just kept growing, over the past 18 months many times I’ve thought: what was I thinking? It was a huge, huge undertaking,” Primeau said, crediting Bamford and his manager’s team for pulling it all off.

“We didn’t know if we could do it, and we were stupid enough to try,” Primeau said. “But now we did it, and it will only get better.”

Country musician Gord Bamford performed at the first Pics and Sticks event at Spirit Ridge on May 16. (Dale Boyd / Osoyoos Times)