The fundraising for the restoration of Locomotive 3522 in Bienfait continued on Sunday with a showing of the Locomotives of Bienfait documentary at the Orpheum Theatre in Estevan.
Bill Fraser, who directed the film and co-produced it alongside his wife Heather McKenzie, said it was a great day and they attracted about 100 people and raised about $800 for the restoration efforts. Most of the money was raised through a raffle.
“This was our final event for the fundraiser,” said Fraser. “We have some other projects planned, and we need to get started on them.”
Combined with the $3,465 that has been raised through a GoFundMe campaign created by McKenzie, it brings the fundraising total for the campaign to more than $4,200.
“We’re very happy with it,” said Fraser. “We’re really grateful to all of the people who came out to our shows, and went online and donated to the restoration of the locomotive.”
Their goal is $10,000.
The people of Estevan and Bienfait were very supportive in helping Fraser and McKenzie create the documentary, he said. And both times they have been to Estevan to show the documentary at the Orpheum, they came away happy they made the picture.
Fraser said he received a lot of positive comments about the documentary, particularly from older people who remember when the steam locomotives used to roll through the southeast, hauling coal to its destination.
“What was nice was there were people there who hadn’t seen it the first time, and they got to see it,” said Fraser. “It was a really good, positive experience for everybody.”
Fraser expects they will keep the GoFundMe page active until the end of August, and then the money that has been raised will be presented to the Town of Bienfait. It will be up to the town to decide the type of work that needs to be completed.
Copies of the DVD for the Lcomotives of Bienfait can be purchased at the Orpheum Theatre.
Fraser and McKenzie’s next project is called Salt, which is about Ted Hector and Gary MacDonald, two men from Manitoba who are building a racing motorcycle, and taking it to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah later this year to try to set a world speed record.
