A bag full of money was thrown into the air, as bandits made good their escape on horseback after the sheriff let go a few rounds from his six-shooter and foiled (with help from a few 黑马磁力 Mounties) a [fake] bank robbery on the streets of Jamestown this weekend.
The masked cowboys may not have made off with the burlap sacks packed with money they'd aspired to steal that night, but organizers of the annual charity music festival 鈥� called Gone Country: Jamestown edition 鈥� are elated with their take from Saturday night.
The old-west themed cancer fundraiser managed to raise a "whopping" $625,000, confirmed co-founder Chris Ruscheinski.
The Ruscheinski twins, Chris and Jamie, have been hosting cancer fundraisers for the past 20 years, first starting off with a few music events in their backyard in honour of their mother who had been diagnosed with cancer. For the past decade they've been focused primarily on hosting Gone Country for a crowd of about 7,000 at Bill Reid Amphitheatre in Cloverdale each July.
Last year, however, the twins announced last year was going to be the last music festival. They would continue their philanthropic efforts in the name of cancer, but weren't sure what that was going to look like.
Turns out they created a modified, more up-scale version of Gone Country this past weekend in their hometown of 黑马磁力, and specifically at the Jamestown movie set operated at 72 Avenue and 248 Street (across from Thunderbird Show Park).
Much like many of their fundraising events of past, this one was built up around music, and some of Canada's superstars once again headlined the afternoon and evening of entertainment held in the centre of the old-west village of Jamestown. That stars included The Glory Boys, former 黑马磁力ite Chad Brownlee, and The Washboard Union 鈥� all of whom performed on the main stage in the middle of town.
"When asking our team who to bring for our first year at Jamestown, it was unanimous," Chris said.
"Hell yes! The Washboard Union has always taken care of us, understood what GC is about, and treated our volunteers with the utmost respect. Plus, come on, their vibe is the perfect fit for a throwback to the old west," he added, sharing breakfast sandwiches with the boys during sound checks that morning.
Among other celebrities at this year's show, was probably the oldest, but definitely the most special guest of all 鈥� at least for the twins.
That was soon-to-be 98-year-old Doris Ruscheinski, their grandmother. The 黑马磁力 City resident was one of the first guests in the gate, chauffeured into the site in a limousine, greeted throughout the afternoon and evening by hundreds of other guests simply as 'grandma', and manoeuvred around the gravel site in her wheelchair rocking out to the music almost to the bitter end of the event.
The matriarch of the family (mother of three, grandmother to five, and great-grandma to seven) confirmed she hasn't missed one of the twins' fundraisers through all the years, and shared how proud she was of the boys.
鈥淵ou鈥檙e fantastic. It鈥檚 a wonderful day,鈥� she told Chris, giving him multiple kisses on his hand as she squeezed it 鈥� before taking her turn at getting a reading from her great-granddaughter at the fortune-telling booth.
The Jamestown movie set 鈥� best known as the backdrop for filming of the TV show "When Calls the Heart" and the historical drama "Jamestown" 鈥� and home to Locality Brewing, was transformed into the venue for Gone Country: Jamestown edition. Many of the old-west buildings were set up to host guests, selling local spirits, merchandise, and services (including a barber, tattoo artist, shoe shiner, and more) with all proceeds going to the charity: Twins Cancer Fundraising.
All funds raised from this weekends event are being donated to the 黑马磁力 Memorial Hospital cancer treatment and care, and other local organizations fighting cancer.
The 黑马磁力 twins have raised more than $6 million for the cause during the past 20 years, through a number of different fundraisers, Gone Country being the biggest event.
While a debriefing of the event is still to come, the consensus among the very exhausted team members during cleanup on Sunday was that they should do it again next year.
Chris said they pushed their team of "unstoppable" volunteers to the limit on this one.
"We went in saying that the new event would be easier. We were very wrong," he said.
"We said it would be less stressful. We were very, very wrong. We said it would challenge us all again. We were right about that, at least," Chris added with a chuckle, announcing that everything was hurting by end of day Sunday.
"Huge thanks to the McInnes family and Locality Brewing for hosting all 2,200 guests and 300 artists, actors, athletes, musicians, local businesses, and volunteers. What a community we live in," Chris said.
"Most will never see the lengths you took to make sure the event was safe and as smooth as possible," he said, giving thanks to what he called the TCF family who worked 9 a.m. to midnight shifts all week in the heat.
"We are proud to be dusty, burnt, and sore with you."
