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(Cam Lee/northeastNOW Staff)
It's a Wing Ding thing

Melfort Fire Department getting set to host annual Wing Ding fundraiser

Nov 21, 2019 | 4:25 PM

An annual tradition in Melfort is now in its 69th year.

The Melfort Fire Department’s Wing Ding will take place Dec. 14 at the Kerry Vickar Centre. The doors open at 1 p.m., and it all begins at 1:30 p.m. and continues into the evening.

Fire Chief Jason Everitt told northeastNOW the Wing Ding is basically a fun, family bingo.

“You come in and buy the cards, there’s a poker table set up as well, and we are raffling off – the bingo prizes for each round are either turkeys, or hams, or chocolates and we just go right from one to the other,” Everitt said. “Everybody typically goes home with something and all the proceeds go back to the Melfort Fire Department.”

Everitt said it’s a come-and-go event that is a chance to sit down, have some fun, and visit.

The Wing Ding started in 1950, and the day is a family tradition for many people in the northeast.

“I’ve talked to people that…were here as kids, and now they’re here with their kids and with their grandkids,” Everitt said. “It’s one of those events that obviously is very important to the community.”

The Wing Ding is the fire department’s major fundraiser for the year, and Everitt said the money brought in helps them purchase specific equipment, in conjunction with the City of Melfort and the department’s rural partners.

“Our members are in full force and their families are out here as well helping out, so it’s just not the members of the fire department but their children and their spouses, and significant others, we’re all in this together,” Everitt said.

The fire department will sell tickets on a natural gas barbecue, currently on display at city hall, until the end of the evening on Dec. 14. They will then draw the winner. Tickets for the barbecue can also be purchased at city hall.

cam.lee@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @camlee1974

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