by Deanna Mitchener
May 5, 2025 issue: Parkland Composite High School held something different this year to help raise funds for their upcoming graduation celebration —a Trivia/Hypnotist Fundraiser night.
The event was held at the Edson Friendship Centre on April 26.
19 teams answered questions on a variety of topics ranging from movies and sports to ‘are you smarter than a fifth grader’. Team ‘Awesome’ won first place.
After the trivia challenge, there was more fun and laughs with Gavin Hooper hitting the stage with his professional comedy/hypnotist act. Gavin flew in from Kelowna to Edmonton then drove to Edson just in time to start his show. He had volunteers join him on stage where he used hypnosis to create a humorous and entertaining experience for the audience.
It was a fantastic evening of great food and entertainment, and a great way to help raise money for graduation.
Kim Brodersen, president for the Parkland Grad-Parent Celebration Committee, said, “This year is a significant event as it’s the largest grad class in history for the school, with 160 kids graduating this year. With a bigger class comes a bigger number to attend the banquet. We are having 816 individuals attend which is the maximum capacity we are allowed.”
The event will be held at the Edson Leisure Centre, which is currently under construction. “Between decorating costs, food, insurance, along with all the other expenses that go along with a graduation, it can become very costly. I believe we have raised around $50,000 from fundraising which includes ticket sales. We try to keep the cost as low as we can by doing these types of events to help raise money,” said Brodersen.
The meal was cooked and served by volunteers and put together by Gil Belcourt. Dinner was roast turkey, baked ham, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mixed veggies, macaroni salad, Caesar salad, bannock, and an assortment of baked desserts.
“Tonight we had 135 people plus 15 volunteers. The volunteers were here all day long cooking and doing the serving and clean up. Many volunteers don’t even have any students graduating, they are just here to help and support the grad class —pretty amazing!” said Brodersen.