Last Thursday, Jo Klitzke was setting up her 40-foot mobile food-vending unit in a parking lot in Didsbury. If you were lucky enough to walk by, you'd catch the tantalizing scent of her home-cooked cabbage rolls and roast beef on a bun, while she prepared for a hungry lunchtime crowd.Klitzke is the owner/operator of Westcott Country Kitchen Ltd., a revamped and restored trailer that has red gingham curtains hanging in the windows, three ovens and nine burners to cook on. The former software project manager said she ìcooks from the heart,î and her words strike a melancholy chord.Klitzke's first husband, Dave Steadman, died of a heart attack in her arms in June 1999, while the two waited for an ambulance to arrive at their home near Westcott.ìIt took 20 minutes for the ambulance to get there,î she said. ìBut he was gone by then.îRecently, Klitzke personally embarked on a defibrillator fundraiser, in order to raise money to purchase the piece of medical equipment.ìIt hit me when they resurrected the ball diamond in Westcott,î she said. ìI was watching the ballplayers and I did some research and found out that some heart attack victims are as young as 14 years old.ìThat's when I thought, whoa, that's nuts. Wouldn't we all feel terrible if we were too cheap to have a defibrillator available at the hall?îKlitzke made a plan, and on Saturday, October 22, she hosted the first ever Westcott Wacky Fall Fair at the Westcott Hall, with more than 20 vendors. Vendors paid $20 each for their table rental, and a portion of that went toward the Defib Fund.ìThe defibrillator costs about $500, and we now have about $415 collected,î she said. Asked about the turnout for the event, she added: ìIt was insanely good, with about 500 people coming through. We also got some donations from customers.îKlitzke's husband, Duane, who is a carpenter, plans to install a box to house the defibrillator at Westcott Hall, which will be accessible through a combination lock. ìCommunity members will know the combination, and can use the device when necessary.îShe said there is an aging population in the Westcott area.ìI hope to one day save a life because of raising the money for the defib,î she said. ìIt'll make it all worthwhile.î
