Beaver Club Gala sells out fast
Author, professor James Raffan hosting Oct. 14 costume benefit for canoe museum
The Beaver Club Gala has taken on a life of its own over the last decade.
“We almost have to hold it back,” said Mollie Cartmell, a gala committee member.
The Beaver Club Gala is a recreation of the original fur traders’ supper club in Montreal, founded in 1785 by members of the North West Company.
It’s happening at the Canadian Canoe Museum on Oct. 14. Hosted by the museum, the gala is a fundraiser for the museum’s education and public programs.
“So it’s not just disappearing into a black hole of operations,” Cartmell said.
The evening includes authentic voyageur-style fine food, period music, a silent auction and a guest speaker.
James Raffan is hosting and speaking this year. He’s a writer, speaker and geographer who’s work has been published in Canadian Geographic, National Geographic and The Globe and Mail. Raffan was a professor of outdoor and experiential education at Queen’s University for 19 years and has produced 16 books.
Since launching in 2008, the gala has become well known and sells out each year. Tickets go on sale in mid-April and are usually gone by July.
The event was held at the museum for the first time last year, after eight years in other locations.
“It was leap of faith, because it’s a huge amount of work to get the museum ready,” Cartmell said.
All the boats and artifacts from the first and third floor have to be removed to set up tables. That means the museum is closed Oct. 13 and 14.
The gala is always held on the first Saturday after Thanksgiving, with about 60 per cent of guests returning each year.
“And those are the ones who phone straight away to get tickets.”
Although it’s considered a black tie affair, guests are encouraged to dress up in formal wear circa 1800, such as fur trade or highland garb.
Extra tables have been added this year to allow for more residents to take part.
Two hundred tickets sold this year, at $225 a piece.
Cartmell attributes the success of the gala to a few factors. It’s held at the same time each year so people can plan ahead and it’s unlike any other gala in the city.
“It’s not just a regular gala ... this one is entirely different, partly because people dress up and much of the program is traditional voyageur, traditional historic Beaver Club dinner.”
Throughout the last decade, the gala has garnered more than $536,000 for the museum.