High school sing-off offers reason to be gleeful
Students raise $127K for Children’s Hospital
The fourth annual Just for Kids Foundation’s Glee High School Showdown, held Nov. 10 at the Eric MacLean S.J. Centre for the Performing Arts, raised $127,000 for the Montreal Children’s Hospital.
Students from 10 Montreal-area high schools — Bialik, Herzliah, Kuper Academy, LaurenHill Academy, Laurier Macdonald, Miss Edgar’s & Miss Cramp’s, Royal Vale, Royal West Academy, Selwyn House and Trafalgar School for Girls — participated in the song-and-dance competition inspired by the hit television show. The money will go to the foundation’s Take Heart Campaign to buy state-of-the-art equipment for the cardiology department at the pediatric hospital.
Royal Vale, which took first place, put on an a cappella performance featuring a mash-up of three songs: Glamorous by Fergie, Diamonds by Rihanna and Applause by Lady Gaga. Second place went to LaurenHill and third to Kuper Academy. Trafalgar raised the most money.
As a finale, all the schools, together, performed a rendition of On Top of the World by Imagine Dragons.
The Gazette’s award-winning veteran editorial cartoonist Terry Mosher, known to legions of readers as Aislin, had The Gazette Christmas Fund in mind when he turned up at Clio Books, an independent bookstore in the Pointe-Claire Plaza, Nov. 30 to sign copies of his latest book, Was It Good for You?
He decided to take along several dozen copies of some of his older books — books stored in two boxes that he said were “just taking up space in my basement” — to sell to customers directly for $10, with all the money going to The Gazette Christmas Fund. He signed the copies as they were sold.
“I signed them all,” he wrote to Applause following the event. “We sold them all, raising a little over $800 for The Gazette Christmas Fund.”
A concert with the musical duo of Bowser and Blue had people laughing long and loud — and it raised more than $6,000 for the Montreal Lakeshore University Women’s Club. The fundraising event, held Nov. 14 at the Dollard Civic Centre, was attended by 240 people.
George Bowser and Rick Blue, who write and perform comedic songs, have been working together for 35 years.
“The evening was a huge success,” Janet Ankcorn of the club’s executive wrote to Applause. “I have never heard people laughing so much for so long! Their musical interludes were superb as well: They can certainly play their instruments and entertain the audience.”
The club must raise $9,000 each year to support its scholarships, Ankcorn wrote.
The scholarships help young West Island women in difficult financial circumstances complete their post-secondary education. As well, the club provides financial aid to CEGEP students and to young adults returning to complete their high school diplomas.
Visit mluwc.com for more on the club.