Rotarian and volunteer lobster cooker Harold Cox playfully teases Pat Wycherley with a live lobster at last year’s Rotary Lobster on the Beach event. Tickets are selling quickly for this year’s event, which takes place Sept. 9 at Gyro Park. (Richard McGuire file photo)
If you don’t already have a ticket for Lobster on the Beach, you had better move quickly.
The popular fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Osoyoos takes place on Saturday, Sept. 9 and tickets sell out every year.
Sandy Summers, one of the organizers, said there are still a few tickets left, but as people look ahead to September, they’ll sell quickly.
The event takes place at Gyro Park and it gets underway at 6 p.m.
Tickets are $70 each and can be purchased from Judy Miller-Bennett at 250-485-8876 or [email protected].
The event features fresh lobster flown in live from Prince Edward Island. Volunteers boil the lobsters under the direction of Joey’s Seafood in Penticton, which supplies them.
Summers said the main format change this year is that instead of eating at round tables in the giant tents, guests will sit at long communal tables.
“We just felt that as a committee, it lends towards more of what Rotary is about,” said Summers, adding that those who don’t come in a group of eight can still be included and can meet new friends.
“It’s a little bit more conducive for conversation than a big round table,” she said.
As in past years, there will be a live auction with items donated by local organizations as well as by other Rotary groups around the province, she said. But the auction items, of course, will be different from previous years.
One item sure to draw interest is a wine fridge filled by local wineries, distilleries and breweries. This item will be raffled rather than auctioned.
“If you can’t get in on the live auction items, you still have an opportunity to support Rotary and buy a ticket,” said Summers. “Everybody is on an equal basis and gets a chance to win.”
Once again, this year’s master of ceremonies will be Mark Madryga, the meteorologist from Global B.C. television.
The winery sponsors this year are Hester Creek and Cassini Cellars. Oliver Landing is the corporate sponsor.
Summers said that a number of volunteers, both Rotarians and non-Rotarians, help to run the event including cooking the lobsters.
Brock Paton, who is a retired red seal chef in addition to being one of Canada’s finest archers, will be cooking fresh corn and potatoes, Summers said.
Additionally, the servers will include volunteers from the Osoyoos Elementary School parent advisory council. The school is the recipient of a major Rotary donation for a new playground.
Summers said Rotary hopes to raise $20,000 from the event, which will help to fund a number of community projects the club supports.
In addition to the elementary school playground, Osoyoos Rotary is providing $30,000 over six years to help the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation to purchase equipment for the new patient care tower at Penticton Regional Hospital.
The club also makes many smaller donations to non-profit groups including Desert Sun Counselling and Resource Centre, Better at Home, public skating, School After School tutoring and a backpack program to assist some children from low-income families with food on weekends.
“Those are some of the behind-the-scenes initiatives that I don’t think people are aware that Rotary is part of,” said Summers.
“It’s just a fun night,” she said. “It’s nice to be able to celebrate and sit on the beach in Osoyoos and be able to eat a lobster.”
RICHARD McGUIRE
Osoyoos Times
