One St. Albert café is hoping to bring out a good crowd of people for a one-night event that will combine the best of local art and community support for a great cause.
A Day in the Life: Fundraising for the Kids is set to take place next weekend in support of the Stollery Children’s Hospital. Business owner Darren McGeown has had this event in the works for a while but the gestation probably started in his own youth.
“I have been looking forward to doing this,” he stated matter-of-factly. “It’s important to me to do a fundraiser for the Stollery. First and foremost, that’s the charity that I always want to help out.”
The popular café and bar frequently hosts musicians and entertainers and always has fresh local art on the walls. It even held a pop-up art gallery last year to great success.
None of that would have happened if McGeown hadn’t received the top-notch care at the premiere children’s health facility located at the University of Alberta Hospital. Years ago, he experienced an aneurysm and spent about six months under the treatment of the highly skilled medical teams there.
The experience even helped him to come up with the theme for this event.
“Lying in bed paralyzed for six months, there’s not much you can really do. I kinda know what it’s like, the day-to-day situation in the Stollery. I laid in the bed watching hockey all the time. It’s pretty tough. I also gambled with the nurses. It’s pretty tough, a day in the life.”
He’s arranged for a half-dozen local visual artists to come up with numerous works all on the theme of A Day in the Life. All works will be on sale with prices set by the artists themselves.
There will also be an equal representation of professional and student artists displaying their works on the walls, including Riane Grainger and Roanne Mendoza who are both in Grade 12 at St. Albert Catholic High School. They’ll be joined by their art teacher, Teresa Wallsten, along with Amy Leong, Troy Barker and Sylvie Hawkes who also helped with organizing the event.
They will be joined by piano pop singer Natty Valencia who will be providing the entertainment.
The fundraiser takes place on Saturday, October 12 starting at 7 p.m. Valencia will be performing an hour-long set starting at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $30 with all the ticket sales (and 50 per cent of the proceeds from art sales) will go to the Stollery Children’s Hospital. The event will include some free appetizers and drink specials as well.
Arcadia Café and Bar is located in the Bruin Centre, #50, 24 Perron Street. Call 780-458-8226 or visit www.arcadiacafeandbar.com for more information.
