43rd Kinsmen Telemiracle gears up for showtime
“Positive, motivating, invigorating — it’s a once-a-year big injection of this incredible feeling of community I don’t get any other time of the year,” musician Jeffery Straker said ahead this weekend’s Kinsmen Telemiracle event.
The 43rd annual Kinsmen Telemiracle is set to hit the stage this weekend, and groups around Saskatoon are already getting into the groove.
Local and national performers from this year’s cast dropped by the Oliver Place residence on Thursday afternoon to get folks in the mood for the upcoming festivities. “To be able to give back to the Kinsmen ... it’s something (residents) look forward to from one year to the next,” Oliver Place recreation co-ordinator Liz Risdale said.
The lobby was filled with friends and family as well as residents of the building.
Risdale said for a lot of the tenants, fundraising for Telemiracle is all they talk about for months leading up to the big telethon — and it dominates conversation for months afterwards.
This year’s Telemiracle takes place on March 2 and 3 at TCU Place in Saskatoon. The lead-up to the event beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday will be broadcast live on Youtube, and the full event will be carried by CTV and Newcap Television around the province.
According to the Telemiracle website, the first 42 events raised more than $129 million. Funds pay for medical equipment and assistance like walkers, lift chairs, and special transportation.
Colleen Carr, a local singer who performed onstage at a big Telemiracle event in the 1990s, was one of the performers entertaining at Oliver Place on Thursday. Carr has fond memories of performing in the event, and has something of a personal stake in the event as well — her brother developed a rare form of muscular dystrophy as an adult, and has received assistance through the Kinsmen Foundation multiple times.
Equipment as simple as wheelchairs can be quite costly for families, and the good things Telemiracle accomplishes are not small, Carr said.
“I can just well imagine if they have done that for my family and my brother, what they do for everyone else. It’s just amazing to me.”
Partway through the afternoon, cheers broke out in the crowd as members of this year’s Telemiracle cast — and the big Telemiracle bear mascot — came by for a visit, including performers like Straker, Beverly Mahood, Lisa Moen and more.
Risdale said they hoped to have around $7,500 ready to donate to the cause ahead of Saturday’s start. Straker, who has performed at Telemiracle for eight years in a row, said people like the residents of Oliver Place raising money and donating are what make it all happen.