“It takes a village to raise a child, and this is a real example of that adage.”

With that, Joyce Roemer thanked the more than 150 who came out to the Weyburn Legion Friday evening for a fundraising dinner. The goal of the dinner was to help raise money toward getting a service dog for Nathan Roemer, Joyce’s son, who was born with Partial Trisomy 13Q and Partial Trisomy 11Q, which have affected his physical, emotional, intellectual and social development.

The meal itself was provided by Prairie Sky Co-op, which donated the lasagna dinner. A silent auction was also held at the dinner, and a 50/50 draw. The money raised Friday is in addition to a donation made by the Southeast Twins midget AAA baseball team after their game in Weyburn May 10th, and a donation from the Weyburn Fire Brigade after their ladies night earlier in the month. The total raised towards the goal of $30,000 wasn’t available Friday evening but should be known in the coming days.

Nathan’s service dog, Scooter, will begin working with him for the transition beginning in August. From there, it will be dependent on how well the transition goes before Scooter permanently calls Weyburn his home.