PICKERING, Ont. – The Pickering Truck Stop was the venue for the first annual show to raise awareness for Sick Children’s Hospital and the Children’s Wish Foundation.

Joanne Roefaro, restaurant manager and show co-ordinator, says she was expecting more people to attend the event, but isn’t disappointed with what came from the efforts of everyone involved.

“It’s just going to get better and better each year. We’ve let people know we’re out there and it was definitely worth it because of the contacts and support we gained for next year’s show,” she says.

Roefaro decided to hold the show to endorse the truck stop and to bring everybody together while promoting a good cause.

Next year, she plans on inviting the kids from the hospital to participate in the event and is hoping that enough awareness has been created this year so they can raise money for the sick children with future shows.

The festivities encapsulated a fun-filled weekend with live bands, including Rick Johnson, country and western singer and acting mayor of Pickering, lots of games for kids, recruiters were providing useful industry information, and trophy presentations were made for the show and shine event.

“Those who did come had a great time, and definitely left with full stomachs,” Roefaro says.

“The only catch is that I still have 100lb of pig and 80lb of roast sitting in my fridge, next year we’ll get the crowd we were hoping for.”

Roefaro gained a great deal of insight into planning future events with this being her first one, she says, learning about advertising and company budgets will be especially important to next year’s show.

“Since many companies do their budgets at the beginning of the year, we just didn’t make it in there, but I’m going to start planning and sending out notices next month already for next year’s show so that we can be considered when it comes time for budgets,” she says.

The advertisers, the drivers and some of the suppliers who were in attendance showed their support for the weekend and provided hope for next year’s show with their strong participation this time around and commitment for next time. n