‘Wonderland characters help Kids Kottage
The Mad Hatter dined with Alice Friday night when Wonderland came to Edmonton and helped Kids Kottage raise nearly $120,000.
“The ballroom at the Chateau Lacombe was abuzz with giving excitement at what we had themed as our Imagine Gala,” said the Kottage’s Pam Miller.
“People know we are Edmonton’s only 24-hour crisis nursery and we work to prevent child abuse and neglect while supporting families in crisis.”
Literally giving back to help the 1,500 children from 700 families who knock on the Kottage’s door every year was cardio-thoracic surgeon Dr. John Mullen.
He finished surgery at the University of Alberta Hospital in time to rush over and score big with a balloon pop, winning a blue topaz and diamond ring valued at $4,466.
But he didn’t keep it. Mullen donated it back and assiduous auctioneer Sine Chadi sold it for $1,300.
Moments later, Daniela Franceshini and her husband Tony won a one-week vacation at the Ridge Resorts in Stateline, Nevada. They donated it back and Mullen bought it for $3,000 when it was auctioned.
James Gratton and Terry Kiefer each bought one-week stays at a Vidanta Mexican resort for $7,200.
Gratton and Kiefer were also in a bidding war for a dinner for eight cooked in their homes by Quickfire Cookery’s Executive Chef Stefan Cherwoniak, coupled with wines from Bin 104. The chef ended the tussle by selling each of them a dinner for $6,000.
FLAME IGNITED SUPPORT
The Olympic Flame was extinguished in Rio some weeks ago, but Dave Majeski says not before it once more ignited the hearts of Edmontonians.
“By the end of last week, we had sold all our seats, more than 700, for the October 20 Gold Medal Plates Dinner,” said Majeski, who co-chairs the dinner this year, his fifth, with Bill Butler of Western Camp Services. The event supports Canada’s Own the Podium campaign, which helps high performance athletes financially during training.
“Led by Penny Oleksiak, a first time Olympian who won four gold medals in the pool, our athletes won a total of 22,” said Majeski.
“We couldn’t be more proud of them, but now is the time to continue the celebration and ensure support of our athletes as they train for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.”
Majeski says Edmonton’s Gold Medal Plate dinners are the most attended and raise more than any of the others in the 10 cities that stage them, including Toronto and Calgary.
“The dinner this year will be prepared by 10 of Edmonton’s top chefs and will be a rockin’ event,” said Lisa Pasin, who puts the dinner’s nuts and bolts together.
“Alan Doyle from Great Big Sea will be joined by Barney Bentall, Dustin Bentall, Cory Tetford and amazing fiddler Kendel Carson for an incredible musical lineup,” she added.
Thirty Olympians will attend, including Rio’s Chef de Mission Curt Harnett; Rio Olympic wrestling gold medallist Erica Wiebe; CBC sports analyst in Rio Mark Tewksbury; Rio trampoline gold medallist Rosie MacLennan and Rio rugby bronze medallist Ashley Steacy.
Bidding is expected to be fierce on trips, accompanied by musicians and athletes, to Buenos Aires and Montevideo; Tuscany; Barcelona and Mallorca; and Portugal and Iceland. Footnote: Pasin just told me they are trying to squeeze two more tables into the room. “It will be on a first come, first served basis,” she says. Email lisa@comlinks.ca.
MOVE OVER SCOTCH
Ask for rum at a smart party these days and you will probably get a dark, molasses-driven distillate meant to be sipped straight or over ice.
“Sipping rum is ‘in’ and where single malt scotch was five of six years ago,” said Steve Richmond of Riverbend’s Vines Wine Merchants.
“What makes premium rum so attractive, apart from its full, rich, sweet taste, is that a wellaged run is often significantly less expensive than an older single malt scotch.”
Vines, supporting the MS Society, will welcome rum aficionados to its Edmonwton Rum Festival Friday., Sept. 30, at Delta Edmonton South.
Taste from some 75 rums made in the Caribbean, Latin America and South America. Tickets are $85 and can be purchased at 780434-9444.