Over the last week the Air Canada air strike caused a few anxious moments for the organizers of Rotary's second annual Lobster Fest. It looked like the proposed air delivery of Nova Scotia lobsters was not going to happen. Luckily the strike was settled in time and the lobsters were in the air by Friday morning. However, the initial sigh of relief was short lived when the lobsters failed to make it onto the last Friday night flight out of Calgary. All was not lost when a courier was dispatched to collect and deliver the lobsters by road. They arrived in Kimberley at three am on Saturday morning.

By late Saturday afternoon the organization was in full swing with the Centennial Centre Hall decorated in full "down east" lobster regalia (lobster pots, netting, posters, etc). The items for the silent auction were on display and the band, The Blarney Pilgrims with enough Celtic instruments to stock a music store, were ready to add the appropriate maritime flavor to the evening's entertainment. To add that extra bit of authenticity to the evening they were joined by young Angus MacDonald on fiddle.

It was a sell out evening with patrons still clamoring for tickets right up to the opening of the event. Don McCormick, president of Kimberley's Rotary, and one of the evenings MCs, opened the event to the rousing rhythms of the "Drunken Barmaid Set". Rotary events are not placid events and this was no exception. It quickly built up a head of steam with lots of socializing and perusal of the silent auction table.

To prep every one for the task at hand a short video on the appropriate lobster dismembering technique was presented. In a direct steal from the Robbie Burns Night tradition the lobsters were "piped in", or actually "marched in" is the right phrase, by Angus MacDonald. He played a couple of grand Nova Scotia tunes, "Erchless Castle" and "Devils in the Kitchen". After all, if a sheep's stomach can rate homage from the Highland Pipes then it only appropriate that good Nova Scotia lobsters should rate some authentic down east fiddle music and that's exactly what they got.

Rotary events are mechanisms to raise funds for community projects. Central to this particular evening was fund raising specifically targeted to the Sledge Hockey program and, to this end, $572 was raised in the 50/50 draw for this purpose. Many other projects, including the Rotary Youth Leadership Award, will be beneficiaries of the evening fund raising efforts. The evenings various auctions were a hilarious success. The final funds raised by the evenings activities is still to be tallied.

So once again Rotary has achieved another gastronomical success, lots of hilarity, music and just grand fun all in the name of community service.

Kimberley Rotary would like to thank the legion of volunteers who contributed to such a successful evening.