Beers will be drank and tunes will be heard Friday at Red Arrow Brewery, during a fundraiser to fight childhood cancer.
Rock de Tour is the fundraiser supporting the Tour de Rock, which is an annual bike ride by first responders across Vancouver Island.
It’s been put on by the North Cowichan-Duncan RCMP rider, Wes Richens, who has already raised over $26,000 for the cause.
“We went to Lance at Red Arrow just thinking ‘let’s just do a simple beer and burger night’ and it’s exploded into this,” says Richens. “It’s getting a little nerve-wracking because it’s not too far away and of course, we want to make sure that everybody who comes has a good time. But everything is falling into place.”
The stage will be split between performances by Maxwell Smart and Darian Gerrard. Maxwell Smart is a local rock band. Richens knows Gerrard quite well, as she works at the detachment as a Watch Clerk.
“She’s an amazing person,” says Richens. “She’s trying to get her music career off the ground. She’s got her music videos on YouTube that you can watch and if you watched them you would never know that she wasn’t already in the Top 40.”
Richens says the community has stepped up to help run the event. SaveOn Foods is donating burgers and hot dogs, sponsors are covering band and equipment-related expenses, and Duncan Nissan is allowing patrons to use their lot for parking. Local businesses have also stepped up offering things to auction off at the silent auction.
“People are just stepping up and giving us different gifts that we can auction off so we can raise more and more money,” says Richens.
It’s happening tomorrow from 3 pm until 8 pm. A few last minute tickets can still be picked up over on the EventBrite page.
