The Preeceville Hospital Auxiliary Christmas auction was deemed another success by organizers. The auction was held at the Preeceville Club 60 on November 25.
"Everything up for auction was generously donated by community and surrounding area members," said Elaine Christopherson, president.
Darlene Walker assisted Karen Berezitzky in the financial department for the evening.
Items donated included: bread, buns, jams, jellies, an assortment of goody trays, crocheted items and grab bags. The wooden chest was hand made and donated by Joe Luciw was among the auction items that received a lot of interest.
Auctioneers for the evening were, Stacey Strykowski and Sheldon Luciw.
Door prize winners were: Carole Hauber, Doreen Thorson and Agnes Murrin. Blaine Medlang won the 50/50 raffle and donated the prize money from the raffle back to the auxiliary.
Christopherson spoke briefly on the accomplishments and donations of the auxiliary. "Through everyone's generous support through donations, memorials and attendance of our functions we are still striving to keep our out patient department, lab and palliative room the best they can be. We are very thankful to the public who are so supportive of our efforts to keep our palliative, emergency rooms and our lab viable,” she stated.
Christopherson went on to state that the auxiliary only hosts two main fundraisers each year, a May tea and the Christmas auction. The group is always looking for new members as the auxiliary currently has only eight members.
Purchases made by the auxiliary in the past year included: purchasing buns for the Musher Rendezvous, a Remembrance Day wreath, a foam mattress and a sleep chair for palliative care, a 2016 and 2017 bursary, four personal care kits for palliative, a Broselow Hinkle for the emergency room (a pediatric colour-coded system to get the right size equipment based for each child), two over bed tables, wool for prayer shawls, fleece and filling for comfort pillows, and grip socks. The auxiliary has also ordered a AED (automatic external defibrillator) and a baby scale.
Rhonda Durand, the Preeceville and District Health Centre health service manager, introduced herself and brought greetings from the health care region. “Not a lot has changed from last year,” she said. “The members of the auxiliary work hard and their dedication helps to preserve health care in the community. It is a daily struggle and fight to keep services operating here in the community. Health care has changed with not as much funding made available and there are things that are consistently coming up that are not supported by the Health Region. The eight ladies on the auxiliary go beyond what is asked of them and do a great job in supporting the hospital and the community,” she concluded.
Stacey Strykowski, chairperson of the Preeceville and District Health Action Committee brought greetings from the committee. Strykowski stated that Preeceville will be welcoming a new doctor in February.
