If you live on valley time, chances are you missed getting your ticket to the Breast Friends’ Bash on Saturday, March 10 at the Black Forest Restaurant.

And if you missed this event, you missed a fun-filled evening which raised a bunch of cash for A Clear View.

This campaign is the largest the East Kootenay Foundation for Health has run. Our goal is to raise one million dollars to bring a much needed digital stereotactic mammography unit to the Cranbrook Regional Hospital.

This mammography unit will save lives. It is able to detect different cancers that the current unit cannot. One of the big bonuses of this machine is that the patient will get the results immediately. No more weeks of waiting. Any patient can attest, the waiting is the worst.

So, to that end, we had a Bash — Clearly… a Breast Friends’ Bash.

The evening began with a delicious three-course dinner. For me, the dessert was when Nic Veen announced that The Black Forest would be donating all the meals. Needless to say, the place exploded in applause. The next day, I was also notified that the serving staff were donating all the tips they made that night.

The next segment of the evening was when nine breast cancer survivors modelled clothing from Inside Edge Boutique, Essentials Dept. Store and Tiffany’s Thredz.

These courageous ladies were Eloise Berry, Kathleen Campbell, Caroline Greening, Patty Hnatiuk, Heather McLaughlin, Denise Mesenchuk, Nancy Mullin, Connie Watson and Cheryl Yorston. They strutted their stuff in front of a packed house of 174 people, not once, not twice, but three times.

The festivities ended when the silent auction closed. There were 113 auction items generously donated by individuals and businesses throughout the valley. Clearly, they cannot all be named, but their contribution to this event, is very much appreciated.

This valley never ceases to amaze me and with the generosity of all, we were able to raise an astounding $14,334.07.

We have had such incredible feedback, and because of that, we have decided to hold another Breast Friends’ Bash in late October, early November. Stay tuned.

Sheila Tutty

Invermere