Submitted by:
Vaughn Behrmann |

The fund rasier had approximately 300 people attend the evening with the Kinsmen donating their bar tending services for the evening with many jokes and pokes taken and passed on to deserving participants.

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Vaughn Behrmann was the MC for the evening and it started off with Kathy Dvorak delivering the blessing for the evening and the meal the crowd was about to receive. The meal was catered by Jamie and Arnold Wasylciw of Birch River and consisted of a stuff pork with all the trimmings.

A wonderful line up of desserts had people having a hard time picking what they wanted to cap their taste buds off with. Kevin Penner supplied his services video tapping the event and the attendees where encouraged to go up and give Brandel and personal video message of their own.

After supper Chris MacCumber who is Brandel’s Uncle from Brandon got up to update everyone on Brandels progress to date.

Chris was very thankful to everyone that helped Brandel in any way from the time of the accident, the support in stabilizing him for his trip on the air ambulance to the city and in the current progress he is making while in Winnipeg.


This was definitely a concerted team effort by all and the MacCumber and Hauss families are grateful to everyone for their professionalism expressed and displayed.

After Chris’s heartfelt address to the crowd, the live auction got underway with Randy and Cody Hart, along with spotters Chad Haluschak, Travis Bartel and Garry Bartel. As anyone, who has attended one of the many events that Randy has donated his auctioneering skills to knows, he does supply a special talent to get the crowd bidding and laughing along the way.

There where many items from hand crafted coat rack and night table supplied by Ken Kereluk who not only built these items but he harvested the ash and elm wood locally and sawed and hand crafted these wonderful items. Tyler Ashcroft, an avid local who has a passion for fishing, is also an amazing artist when it comes to making hand crafted fishing hooks that he air brush’s and sells online. He supplied a wonderful assortment of fishing hooks in various styles and colors.


The Shop in Minitonas, which is owned and operated by Darryl and Cindy Woodson, teamed up with the MainStay in Winnipeg and put together two wonderful packages for one night stay that included gift cards for meals and many other amenity’s that brought on a flurry of competitive bids from the crowd. The list of local businesses who supplied various auction items was amazing to say the least which goes to show how the valley does go above and beyond to support the many fundraising efforts placed before them. Remember this, that by supporting them they are supporting us.

After the live auction it was time to move forward with the silent auction items and again the list of personal or business supplied items was staggering which caused another flurry of competitive bids with the sneaky people coming out on top?? If You know what I mean Betty MacCumber! Anyway, yes, I thought I had the top bid for a wonderfully painted rock that revealed a baby fawn curled up enjoying a deserved rest which was hand painted and supplied by Lorna Bell of Kenville. My father would have thought I was crazy if he had seen me biding on a rock as picking stones was one of my least favorite things to do growing up on the farm in Birch River.

All said and done, I cannot emphasize enough the wonderful support from everyone who helped out in any way to make this event the success it was.

I know Brandel will be proud to call the valley home.