It takes months of hard work – and fundraising efforts – to make the acclaimed Osoyoos fireworks display a reality.
Those efforts continue on Saturday with the third annual Osoyoos Fireworks Committee Bottle Drive.
Local residents are asked to drop off bottles – be they beer bottles wine bottles or pop bottles – at the Osoyoos Elks Lodge between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m.
The event raised roughly $600 each of the first two years and will hopefully raise at least that much on Saturday, said Annette Star, the fundraising co-ordinator with the Osoyoos Fireworks Committee.
Bottles can be dropped off at the Elks Lodge, but there will also be a small crew of volunteers that will travel around town on Friday and Saturday to pick up bottles that are donated from the homes of local residents, said Star.
“We already had a call from a gentleman donating a full truckload of bottles on Saturday and we’ve received a couple more calls to pick up bottles,” she said. “People can either drop them off at the Elks Lodge or call me and we’ll gladly send people out to pick up a load.”
For the past three years, Star and her sister-in-law Etta Mae Pratt have been in charge of the fundraising efforts for the Osoyoos fireworks display, which attracts between 15,000 and 25,000 people to the shores of Osoyoos Lake on Canada Day.
Pratt will be moving to Penticton in a couple of months and has been replaced by Karen Hardy, who is a good friend of Star’s.
Hardy will be out on Saturday to say hello and help in the bottle drive, said Star.
Incredibly, the fireworks display in Osoyoos is the second-largest in Canada, behind only the huge display set off on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, our nation’s capital.
It still boggles her mind that a small town like Osoyoos can produce the second-largest Canada Day fireworks in all of Canada, said Star.
The reality is the Osoyoos fireworks cost tens of thousands of dollars and fundraising efforts must continue throughout the year, she said.
The annual fundraising drive in May and June continues to generate most of the funds as hundreds of local businesses make donations, as do hundreds of local citizens, she said.
“But every penny counts and that’s why events like the bottle drive and our Valentine’s Day Dance have become so important,” she said.
The second annual Valentine’s Day Dance will be held at the Elks Lodge on Saturday, Feb. 13.
“Last year’s event sold right out and we’re hoping for another sell out this year,” she said.
Ticket sales will be limited to the first 100 sold, she said.
“Last year we managed to pack close to 120, but things were a little tight inside the hall, so we’ve decided to lower it to the first 100 who purchase tickets,” she said.
The Osoyoos Elks Club and Royal Purple have been very generous in supporting the bottle drive and Valentine’s Day dance as use of the hall is donated free of charge, she said.
The dance will take place from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. A shuttle will be available to pick up people in Oliver at the Super Valu grocery store parking lot at 7:30 p.m. and will take people back later that night.
There will also be a silent auction and there will be a buffet served at 11 p.m.
Tickets will go on sale on Jan. 11 at Imperial Office Pro on Main Street in Osoyoos or you can call Annette Star at 250-495-6227 or Karen Hardy at 250-495-0778.
Ticket prices will remain at $15 per person, the same as last year, said Star.
Mikie Spillett and Ken Repkow will be providing the entertainment as they perform country and rock tunes all evening.
You can also call Star or Hardy if you have bottles to donate this weekend.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
