A member of the Melfort Kinsmen Club is sharing his unique and personal reflections on Telemiracle 45 and the success of the telethon.
Rodney White was on the main stage phones for the finale of the broadcast on phone number one, which he found to be a great honour.
“That phone rings all of the time, so when I was on the stage for the final set of 40 minutes, it was non-stop,” White said. “It goes to show the support of Telemiracle 45.”
Another highlight from the weekend was being on the receiving end of a very special pledge earlier on Sunday.
“It was from Ontario and I wasn’t too sure who it was at first, but turns out it was Beverley Mahood’s husband, and he is also her manager and was phoning in a $1,000 donation,” White said. “Beverley was challenged by Bob McGrath and she stepped up to it.”
White was also able to express his appreciation to Mahood with being on stage at the end of the broadcast.
“Of course, as one of the hosts her whole week is working Telemiracle so to have a host match a donation of $1000 is really awesome,” White said.
Telemiracle 45 was held at Prairie Land Park in Saskatoon this year, which is a massive set of buildings and allowed for physical distancing. There was a long list of COVID-19 safety protocols to follow to ensure it was a success.
“All of the pre-planning and organizing to make it happen was phenomenal,” White said. “Hats off to the organizers, from production to the foundation. To put it together was no small task.”
White inquired about all of the production that took place prior to the show and learned that filming began in early January to ensure all of the Saskatchewan talent was ready for the show.
“We are all curious to see how things will progress to Telemiracle 46,” White said. “This planning crew has set a foundation for even more successful Telemiracles to come.”
The videos that were also sent in by the Saskatchewan talent were produced incredibly and it will be interesting to see if that is a component that sticks.
“Everybody was very upbeat for the weekend and we felt very safe,” White said.
The stories that come from families and individuals who receive funding from the Telemiracle foundation are always another touching part of the weekend.
“Just being in that role of volunteer and when you see that total of $5.6 million and you know that is for the people of Saskatchewan, it reiterates our kin mission of serving the communities greatest need,” White said.
The Melfort Kin groups presented over $22,000 to the Telemiracle 45 total of over $5 million. Generous donations from the community and a couple of covid-friendly fundraisers made up the Melfort total.
Melfort Kinsmen Aaron Skifftun and Trent Fedorychka present cheque at Telemiracle 45. (Facebook/TeleMiracle)A couple of bequests throughout the telethon came from the Melfort area as well.
School fundraiser
Another part of the Melfort total came from the Brunswick Elementary School where White is the principal.
“Our community stepped up and Saskatchewan stepped up to make it a total success,” White said. “You just never know what to expect during these different times and it was huge for us.”
The grade 6 teachers organized the Telemiracle mini-carnival at the school, which, like the telethon, had a different format this year.
On a typical year, the carnival takes place in the gymnasium but had to be contained to each classroom to abide by public health guidelines.
Teacher’s Jon Scott and Heather Thompson were the organizers of the carnival in the school.
“For the grade six students, they know they get to put it on and host it,” Thompson said. “They would have been very disappointed so we wanted to find a way for them to take on this leadership role and put the event on.”
Creating something new was part of the fun for the teachers and students involved, adding new tasks as well as recording ‘how to’ videos.
“To see their excitement build was wonderful,” Thompson said.
The school beat their record and brought in almost $3,900.
“It was the generosity of the families that made it possible, and it was overwhelming and amazing.” Thompson said.
According to Thompson, the carnival was also important to keep alive to bring that bit of normalcy for the students in such a difficult year.
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angie.rolheiser@jpbg.ca
On Twitter: @Angie_Rolheiser
