Bucket list bash a chance to check a few off

The term ‘bucket list’ is a fairly recent addition to our lexicon, defined as “a list of things that one has not done before, but wants to do before dying.”

For the staff who compassionately deal with death at Algoma Residential Community Hospice (ARCH), the term bucket list has extra meaning to it.

As a fundraiser for ARCH (which needs approximately $750,000 annually to cover its non-medical operational expenses), the hospice is planning its first annual Great Bucket List Ball for June 1 at The Machine Shop.

“We want to celebrate everyone that’s been out in the community checking things off their bucket lists all year long with our Great Bucket List Challenge, but we also want to give everyone the opportunity to check something off their bucket list at the Ball itself, so we’re going to be having live bucket listing,” said Lee Rendell, ARCH manager of fund development, speaking to SooToday.

Live bucket listing, Rendell explained, will include the opportunity for The Great Bucket List Ball’s guests to:

• get a dragonfly tattoo from Onelove Tattoo for a minimum $50 donation (the dragonfly being ARCH’s symbol, as in some Indigenous legends, the dragonfly is a symbol of resurrection)
• try archery 
• play paintball (provided by Treetop Adventures)
• try ballroom dancing
• play with insects, or get over your fear of bugs or spiders (Entomica will be on hand)
• experience ‘flying’ or ‘scuba diving’ through virtual reality

Rendell said people may donate to try out these various activities (to be held on The Machine Shop’s mezzanine) if they wish, but must pay a minimum $50 donation for a tattoo.

Guests can come in “fun or formal attire,” Rendell said.

“It’s flexible. People sometimes do things that are a little bit crazy when they’re dressed up at a ball…other people, you can’t pay them enough money to wear a tie,” Rendell laughed.

The ball, Rendell said, is not merely a fundraiser for ARCH, but also a way for ARCH to provide fun experiences for the public as a way of saying ‘thank you’ for ongoing community support for the hospice.

Tickets for the ball are $50 each, or $500 for a table for 10 people (which includes a $250 tax receipt), and are going fast, Rendell said.

400 tickets have been printed, with approximately 250 sold so far.

All proceeds go to ARCH.

The ARCH Great Bucket List Ball (which begins with a 6 p.m. reception at The Machine Shop Friday June 1, with the celebration beginning at 7 p.m.) will include:

• live music with The Reptiles 
• a massive raffle with over $13,000 in donated prizes (including a weekend cabin stay for a family of four, $1,000 worth of furniture, musical instruments and music lessons, a keg fridge from Northern Superior Brewing, tickets for a rock climbing adventure, paddle board lessons, a GoPro camera, gift cards and more) 
• a multi-course meal prepared by The Mill Steakhouse
• live bucket listing

“The number one thing everyone says for the end of life is they want to live without regrets, and the only way to do that is to really check those things off your bucket list and live every day to the fullest and make every moment matter,” Rendell said.

Spending time with family and friends, especially as death for a terminally ill person draws closer, is number one, Rendell said, but she added experiences such as skydiving are in many people’s bucket lists before that time arrives.

The current ARCH Great Bucket List Challenge (another fundraiser) invites people to pick an item such as challenging yourself to do something you’ve always dreamed of (which, perhaps, could include facing one of your biggest fears, such as insects) for yourself or to honour a loved one, register your challenge with ARCH, start your bucket list adventure by getting your friends and family to help you reach your fundraising goal, and, if you wish, make arrangements with ARCH to have your bucket list adventure photographed or put on video, then shared on social media platforms.

ARCH staff members, Rendell said, have run across the southwestern U.S. desert, gone skydiving, rode a horse or published a book as part of the ARCH Great Bucket List Challenge.

For more information, including the stories of those who have already joined The Great Bucket List Challenge, visit the challenge’s website or go to the campaign’s Facebook page. 

Tickets for the Great Bucket List Ball are available by calling Lee Rendell at ARCH at 705-942-1556 ext. 222