Event chair pleased with turnout at Safeway Championship

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By: Lanny Stewart

myWestman.ca

The Safeway Championship came to a close on Sunday afternoon at the Yellowhead Centre in Neepawa and host committee chairperson Ray Drayson could not be more pleased with how things shook out after all was said and done.

Although official numbers have not been tallied up yet, Drayson was happy with the attendance at the five-day men's provincial curling championship.

"Everything went very well. It was excellent as far as I'm concerned," he said. "I'm not overly surprised. I was expecting a good turnout."

He says the Safeway host committee is expected to finalize all financial details from the event at the Neepawa Curling Club windup on March 28. All the money that is earned is split evenly between the Neepawa Curling Club and the Yellowhead Centre.

"We did make some money," said Drayson. "I wouldn't even want to venture as to how much right now. It will be a fairly substantial amount I'd imagine."

He says well over 300 volunteers ended up helping out at the event -- a number that increased substantially since mid-January when, at that time, Drayson mentioned somewhere in the neighbourhood of 170 people had signed up.

"It's just amazing how many volunteers we had," he said with a smile. "Excellent participation on behalf of the community."

Drayson was also pleased with amount of folks who showed up to the socials that took place on the Friday and Saturday. He says approximately 350 people took in the live bands that played each night.
"Everybody there really enjoyed themselves," he concluded.

Drayson would urges anyone who volunteered at the Safeway Championship to attend the windup at the Yellowhead Centre.