ATHABASCA — The countdown is officially on: the much-anticipated return of Athabasca Rotary’s Celebrity Dinner and Auction is coming to town April 26, and with the Alberta-grown talents of hypnotist Wayne Lee and charity auctioneer Danny headlining the evening, tickets are going fast.
The event will mark both performers' return to Athabasca. Hooper was emcee of the last iteration of the Celebrity Dinner in 2022, and Lee frequented a club in town when beginning his entertainment career 30 years ago.
“It’s a real wonderful, come full circle moment,” said Lee.
Wayne Lee
Lee is an award-winning entertainer, Hall of Fame speaker, and peak performance expert based out of Edmonton. He’s made his mark on audiences across North America by unlocking people’s subconscious ability to push past the limits of fear and realize their peak performance for three decades.
“Life is one big hypnosis show — you’re either hypnotizing yourself to win, or in many cases, to lose,” said Lee. “The losing usually is just people beating themselves up and defeating themselves before they even step forward.”
Lee said after achieving his visualized goal of making it into the national finals one year, but failing to secure the goal medal, he learned an important lesson in the power of focus.
“When you set your goals, you visualize it as if you achieved it, and then you control your emotional state, you follow through and you get the results you want.
“Most people know what to do, they just can’t get themselves to do it, because of the one thing that stops them — in a very, very general sense — is fear,” added Lee. “It’s a limit that they put on themselves that keep them from moving forward.”
After leaving his job as a teacher to pursue a career in entertainment, Lee said the methods he teaches today on-stage stem from his background as a five-time national champion in amateur wrestling.
“I wasn’t the greatest athlete, nor did I have the greatest body for wrestling, but I had this really, really strong desire to be in the sport, to do well, and I had a coach that was really focused upon the mental side of performance,” said Lee.
His on-stage entertainment combines his emphasis on the strength of focus and visualization with the mystery of magic. Lee said he fell in love with the practice through a magic kit from his mom and watching Edmontonian Dale Harney’s early ‘80s TV show, “The Magic Palace.”
“It was always just such an exciting and fun thing to watch, and I never thought it would have such an influence on me, but that stuck with me throughout life,” said Lee.
“It really brought out the entertainer in me.”
Danny Hooper
Beloved Albertan charity auctioneer and former country music singer Danny Hooper will be emceeing his second consecutive Celebrity Dinner in Athabasca this year, and guests can expect a healthy dose of Hooper charm he’s developed over a near 40-year career.
Following a touring career in music a stint in the restaurant business, Hooper attended the Western College of Auctioneering in Billings, Mont. in 1897. But he said an uncle introduced him to the craft of charity auctioneering before then by way of a spot on-stage during a Ducks Unlimited fundraiser.
“I got up, and not being an auctioneer, I just joked around and had people laughing and I was poking fun at the picture and all the rest,” said Hooper. “It sold for, I think $850, and all night long he’d only been getting $200 for the paintings he was selling.”
Since he began his auctioneering career, he’s helped raise over half a billion dollars for charity and fundraising events — a total he credits to both his performing roots and his good sense of humour.
“My background was in entertainment, and I’ve always loved making people laugh,” said Hooper. “When people are laughing, they’re definitely engaged, they’re paying attention, and as a result we always end up generating more money.”
Hooper has boiled his expertise on charity fundraising down into a book, and anyone interested in his tips for pulling higher profits through charity auction events can contact him for a complimentary copy.
Born and raised in the hamlet of Tomahawk, south west of Drayton Valley, Hooper said performing in small towns is his favourite aspect of touring.
“That’s been the bread and butter of my entire career, I much prefer working smaller towns and smaller communities and rural communities any day of the week,” said Hooper.
“I’ve got a real affinity for Athabasca because our family had a cabin at Baptiste Lake for decades,” he added, and noted he performed in town as a musician in the ‘70s. “We got a lot of friends up there, and it feels kind of like a homecoming.”
For sponsorship and donation inquiries, contact Balay at [email protected], or 780-327-9646, or Francis Hachey at [email protected], or 780 689-1480. Tickets and tables are available for purchase at Showpass.com, or by contacting a local Rotarian.
