Starfish was the theme, lobsters from Nova Scotia were on the menu, fiddle music played on stage, and the work of local artists made the live auction spectacular.
About 200 people sat down to eat at Claws for a Cause on Sept. 14 that raised funds for Linwood Ministries, a program that works with women locally and from off the Coast who have been oppressed or marginalized and need a warm, supportive environment.
Linwood makes a difference, one woman at a time, explained a brief video about the program. Linwood director Gwen McVickers asked each table of diners to raise $240 - the cost of one woman's journey while at Linwood - which contributed greatly to the financial success of the evening.
It was a change of fundraising strategy from previous years when Linwood House in Roberts Creek was thrown open to the public and artists gathered in the gardens to sell and donate their work.
"This year, rather than doing visual arts with the women from the Downtown Eastside," McVickers explained later, "we focused on the written arts and took them to the Festival of the Written Arts.It was a wonderful experience and we hope to publish a book this year."
Although it was time for a change, the artists are still an integral part of Linwood's support. At the lobster dinner, the live auction generated crowd excitement with an original painting by Greta Guzek going for a successful bid of $1,200, a gourmet dinner for eight going for $1,500 and other donations from artists such as Motoko and Ann Willsie quickly earning cash under the hammer of auctioneer Harrison Mohr.
Many artists who contributed to the silent auction created work just for the occasion - Roza Rogers sewed cushions with lobster appliques while Doug Rae's starfish paintings adorned each table.
Entertainment for the evening came from local musicians: the Knotty Dotters marimba group, young performers from the Coast String Fiddlers and the Rakish Angles string band.
See more about Linwood at www.linwoodhouse.ca.
