Group seats were a hot commodity during C.O.R.E Dance Project Inc’s Yuk-Yuk’s fundraising event on Saturday, February 18, 2023.
The sold-out event was held at the Paris Fairgrounds in the Exhibition Centre and featured a night of live music, three Yuk-Yuk’s comedians, a DJ dance party and a silent auction.
The fourth annual fundraising event was making its first return since the pandemic and offers a night out for the adults in its community.
Local Paris musician, Jake O’Neil, performed a variety of songs during his live performance. From U2 to Prince, Johnny Cash, Tragically Hip, Darius Rucker and Oasis, O’Neil gave the audience a variety of music they could move to as they mingled before the comedy show.
Comedian Andrew Barr, hosted the comedy show and got attendees laughing, clapping and ready to welcome Adrienne Fish to the stage.
The 300 audience members were engaged with Fish and her big personality as she continued to draw out big laughs from the crowd.
After her set, Barr came out for another round of laughs before introducing the headliner of the show, Casey Corbin.
Corbin’s smart comedy got the audience laughing and cheering as he delivered a variety of surprising punchlines weaved through out everyday topics.
The comedian is no stranger to Brantford and the County of Brant as he won the $10,000 grand-prize at the 8th annual Brantford Comedy Festival.
“It’s been great to be here and have a live show again!” said Corbin. “To have 300 people come together in one room laughin’ and having a good time, it feels like we’re getting back to normal so give yourselves a round of applause.”
As the comedy show wrapped up, the C.O.R.E Dance volunteers got to work serving food for those in attendance.
Coleslaw, baked beans and pulled-pork sandwiches were available. For those who didn’t eat red meat, turkey sandwiches were available and for the vegetarians, the crew served a veggie lasagna instead.
Alcoholic beverages were available to purchase, and the large line saw a high demand that had the bar running out of alcohol by 8:30 p.m., leaving only beer, wine and Twisted Teas left until the restock arrived.
Nicole MacAvelia, owner of C.O.R.E Dance Project Inc. spoke about the studio and why it was holding such a large fundraiser.
“The dance studio is for ages two to adults and we offer ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop and all of that,” she said. “We have recreation and competitive for the kids and the competitive team is what the fundraiser is for. This event really allows us to bring in professional teachers and put on big events for those kids to excel their learning.”
Jane Keyes is a mother to a long-time student and teacher at the studio and helped to throw the annual event by coordinating food, decorations and the people.
“We’ve been working to plan this since after Christmas and the turnout has been awesome, we are very happy with how it turned out and I hope that everyone had a great time,” said Keyes. “I think people were just happy to get out and have a good time, they do so much for their kids and this was a night for them.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
