The Westlock Rotary Dinner Theatre is approaching a remarkable fundraising goal, in no small part due to the efforts of two individuals.
Dick and Bunnie Arth have thrown their efforts behind the fundraisersince the very first show in 1992, and 20 years later their efforts have helped to raised nearly $1 million for the Westlock Rotary Club.
They hope to raise more than $50,000 this year with their production of Always… Patsy Cline.
“That’s money that goes to all the charitable things that we do. Every penny goes to something charitable,” said Dick, who’s the chair of the Rotary Dinner Theatre committee which helps oversee the logistical side of things.
Bunnie, on the other hand, acts as more of a navigator for the project — she has selected and directed all 17 shows the club has put on over the years and even wrote three of her own.
“It’s our charity of choice,” she said. “We see through Rotary what good the money does, as to the betterment of our community.”
Despite their obvious hard work and dedication to this now-annual project, both will be among the first to tell you it’s not about what they do for the club — in fact, without having such a strong Rotary Club behind them, the show may never have come as far as it has.
“It’s amazing how much energy is in that club. Some clubs come and go; I’ve seen it happen,” she said.
“But this one, for some reason, there’s a pulse in there that just keeps going and it’s wonderful to be part of that.”
Bunnie was equally eager to give credit to the volunteers who put in countless hours of their own time — the actors, the band, the crew, the set designers, the costume designers and food services workers and a host of others.
“The No. 1 thing to say is this is a whole community endeavour,” she said.
“Everybody has their areas to look after.”
They didn’t think it would be an annual event when they first got started.
It just seemed like a fun new way to raise some money, and it turned out to be a big success with 1992’s The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.
“It was just a concept we thought would work,” Dick said.
In the early years, it wasn’t always an annual show — sometimes organizers would skip a year, but ultimately decided it would be best to keep up the momentum and make it an annual events.
It has not become the biggest annual fundraiser for the Westlock Rotary Club.
Without a doubt, the Arths’ tireless efforts have been crucial in putting on the show each year.
One might expect they would take a break between finishing one show and starting on the next, but one might be wrong.
Even while rehearsals are ongoing for this year’s show, next year’s show has already been cast and the actors have been working to learn their parts.
“We don’t mess around,” Bunnie said.
