The first Annual Light the Way gala to kick off the biggest fundraising campaign for the Saugeen Memorial Hospital Foundation each year was a huge success.
On Saturday, November 9th party goers at Lakeshore Recreation enjoyed reliving their youth during this year’s theme of “return to prom”.
The Power Worker’s Union (PWU) was the main sponsor of this inaugural event with Bruce Power co-hosting. Linda Cobean of PWU said that it was a great night to get dressed up, relive proms and support the hospital. “The hospital changes over the past years have been amazing and would not have happened without the Hospital Foundation. PWU and others are proud to support the Foundation as we believe in keeping quality health care close to home.”
Bruce Power has been a sponsor of the Hospital Foundation through a five-year commitment. 
“I am so personally pleased that we can be part of the these events and I can be part of our corporate responsibilities,” said Christine John of Bruce Power. “Health care is so important to the community and having the services that we do with state-of-the-art equipment without having to travel great distances.”
Foundation Board of Directors Chair, Mary Jo Arnett, thanked the many sponsors who contributed to the first ‘Light the Way’ gala. “We have had such wonderful support, from our sponsors PWU and Bruce Power and many others that included those who donated for our prizes and auctions and the media who have supported us.”
Those in attendance also enjoyed the photo booth area, provided by Jamie Edwards of Jme Photography, the bottle pull and a great assortment of unique auction items, including experiences such as private air plane flights, a private party for eight at a local brewery, Leaf’s tickets and golf memberships.
Final numbers are still coming in but an estimated $7,000 was raised at the gala.
In between dancing, door prizes and auctions the Hospital Foundation was honoured to introduce Sammy Acton, this year’s Light the Way Champion. Sammy is a young girl who was a patient in the ER in Southampton whose compelling story is featured in this year’s Light the Way mailout which will hit mailboxes in Saugeen Shores over the next few weeks.
The Hospital Foundation also unveiled its first ever Light the Way Community Calendar at the gala last night. The calendar features local businesses by showcasing a fun and creative photo to promote their business using local school kids as the models. Everything from racing motorcycles to dancing on the beach in December can be found on the pages of the 2020 fundraising calendar. Jamie Edwards of Jme Photography, who was the photographer for this project said “I had been looking to do a calendar project like this for some time and was happy to be a part of this fundraiser. This was a fun project to work on for such a great cause. We all use the hospital at some point so this was definitely something I wanted to get behind and help support.”
Calendars will be available beginning Tuesday at a cost of $10 and can be found at Port Elgin Canadian Tire, Bicyclette Rouge, Tiny’s Motorcycle, Sutton Huron Shores Realty and the hospital Foundation office. “Our goal is to get these Light the Way calendars into every stocking in Saugeen Shores this Christmas” said Foundation Executive Director Tracy Murray. *Any retail outlets interested in carrying the calendars should contact the Hospital Foundation office at 519-797-3230 x3230 .
Mayor Luke Charbonneau also attended the event in his ‘prom’ attire complete with his university class ring and helped out with the prize draws.
Mayor Luke Charbonneau helping out with the prize 
draws.
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