Food Trucks, Live Music, Hay Rides, Wine & Beer Garden, a Movie, a Laser show and to top it all of an opportunity to Camp for a Cure at Bates Nut Farm! Sherrie Ness & Family, Owners of Bates Nut Farm hosted the summer extravaganza this past weekend. Melody Peterson, a Team Captain and a member of the Event Leadership Team of the Relay For Life of Valley Center envisioned having a “movie night” at Bates Nut Farm as a unique opportunity to fundraise! The initial planning meeting took place and all the fun additional elements were added with much enthusiasm by Sherrie Ness and her team!
Eric Jockinsen of Big “E” Sound took charge of Logistics and Sound, the Crimson Crow band provided a rock & roll experience. Oakwood Escrow provided volunteers along with the Optimist Club of Valley Center to insure there were supplies & beverages for the wine and beer garden. The money raised in the “garden” directed funds through the Optimist club for youth programs in our community. The Valley Center Pageant Association was on board to provide a heartfelt welcome to the attendees of all the activities and offer an opportunity for pre-sale movie tickets.
Campers were excited to get to their campsites and began arriving at Bates Nut Farm Saturday morning at 9:30 a.m. Some of the attendees were Cancer Survivors and many wanted to come out and support a family business that was willing to give back for an amazing cause! Friends and Family came from Pauma Valley, Escondido, San Marcos, Vista, Oceanside as well as Orange and L.A. County!
The Food Trucks arrived at 4:00 p.m. and there were folks lined up to enjoy all the great food until they left at approximately 7:30 p.m. Everyone was enjoying the beautiful summer evening with good food, good friends and family. Sharon Briscoe, Volunteer with the American Cancer Society presented Sherrie Ness owner of Bates Nut Farm with a plaque of appreciation for her commitment to provide the venue every year for the Relay For Life of Valley Center and in addition this year the 1st Annual Fight Back 5K took place this summer as well!
Just as the sun was about to set everyone gathered around the perfect spot among the trees for an outside movie. Artistic Labor Productions provided an appropriate screen for the evening along with a few fun cartoons, the screening of the movie SING! and following the presentation of the movie was a dazzling Laser Show; there were many oohs and awe’s!
Over 500 people made their way out to the farm to enjoy all the festivities and just over 50 families enjoyed camping in their tents or RV’s. The Relay For Life of Valley Center was the beneficiary of part of the camping fee and the donations for the movie. It was a very successful fundraising event with over $2,100 raised in a few hours. This amount brings the total fundraising effort of this community to just over $60,000 this fiscal year which ends on August 31st
Every dollar raised helps in many ways; just $50 helps get a cancer patient to treatment if they do not have someone to take them. For a cancer patient and their caregiver $500 provides five nights of lodging when they are unable to get the treatment they need in their hometown. There are many programs and services provided by the American Cancer Society; please visit www.cancer.org or call 1-800-ACS-2345 for more information.
Valley Center is one of the top fundraising communities in our region with nearly $500,000 raised since 2011! All the money raised in Valley Center stays in San Diego County for programs and services and also provides funds for local researchers for a CURE! This would not be possible without the many volunteers, businesses and organizations in our community and the AMAZING residents of our town!
If you are interested in volunteering to help with future fundraising events please contact Sharon Briscoe by email at sbriscoerelay@hotmail.com
