THE BEATLES AND BEYOND
Daffodil Ball goes psychedelic
Beyond the Beatles, into the partysphere
So I recently took a stroll down Jenny Lane (oh, c’mon, you saw that coming) to Canada’s most successful cancer-related fundraising gala, the 24th annual Daffodil Ball at Windsor Station benefiting the Canadian Cancer Society, where I was thrust into a psychedelic spectacular titled Imagine: The Beatles and Beyond. And lemme tell you, noties: the freedom-loving, boundarybreaking Beatles boys — John, Ringo, Paul and George — would have been blown away by this Revolution in parties.
Masterminded once again by Alison Silcoff Events’ Alison J. Silcoff and Isabelle Lê, and chaired with passion and precision by Business Development Bank of Canada president/CEO Michael Denham (attending with wife Lorna), CIBC president/CEO Victor G. Dodig (with wife Maureen), Osler, Hoskin & Harcourt managing partner Shahir Guindi (with wife Nelly Fanous) and Novacap president/ managing partner Pascal Tremblay (with wife Anik Chamberland), the ball tapped into titanic reserves of creativity and magic, and pushed the boundaries of modern technology and innovation, to transport us all to an electrified ’60s space beyond even the Beatles’ epic imaginations. Join me now as we recap the blast that was, for this supersized edition …
LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS:
At least that’s what Daff 2017 felt like, given all the fantastical decorative touches incorporating over 26,000 daffodils. Key highlights included a periodperfect Volkswagen Beetle awash in peace signs and Union Jacks; a Bed-In for Peace starring Yoko and John lookalikes; an eightfoot peace sign made of 3,000 daffodils; six-foot centrepieces embedded with gerberas, daffodils, LED lights and vinyl records; dynamic projection-mapping technology on three-dimensional wavy surfaces featuring everchanging ’60s scenes; and, the kicker, a 40-by 16-foot Mondrianinspired 3D dividing wall with Beatles-inspired graphics on the cocktail side and video mapping on the dining side.
Come Together, did they ever! Kudos to Decor and More (overall décor), Total Events (technical design and production), Yves Chénier (floral design), Location Gervais (rentals), eXtension concepts (projection surfaces) and Scène Scapin (staging and drapes). HERE COMES THE SUN: Little darlings, let’s just say the entertainment this year was sunny indeed and we all had tickets to ride. Ensemble Tryade, a talented string quartet, initiated the fun and fab with Beatles tunes, followed by superstar tribute band Replay — the Beatles Tribute, who wowed with successive sets in Ed Sullivan-era and Sgt. Pepper sartorials. Next, the Rock n’Rollers, a.k.a. world-famous Cali-based acrobatic roller-skaters Ryan Carrillo and Candice Heiden, took us for a coaster of a good time with a routine by Emmy-nominated choreographer Fred Tallaksen (who, FYI, taught Madonna how to skate), before buzz-making DJ Abeille got us all twisting and shouting. I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND...: but not during dinner, ’cause I needed both hands to enjoy the ingenious-themed creations by Armanda Arruda’s chef wizards at the Queen E. Think Yellow Submarine and Octopus’s Garden appetizers, Imagine quail and foie gras second courses (masterfully disguised as gleaming apples), classic British steak and kidney pie main courses, and fruitacular Strawberry Fields for dessert, all served with complementary wines. Note that apps during cocktails were equally inspired, boasting traditional fish and chips and a special imaGINe and Tonic cocktail. IN MY LIFE…: I’ve never seen such good gifting. Swag was swagilicious with lush loot provided by the haute likes of Giorgio Armani, Christofle, Montblanc, Balnea réserve thermale, MissFresh, Medispa Mont-Royal, Elite Laser, Yoga Vieux Montréal and Billionaire Brows. Raffle prizes (valued at $144,000) rocked our worlds, too, with over-the-top offerings like a $28,500 seven-day voyage on The World. HELP!:The ball was so packed with primo peeps, this Social Gal almost needed an oxygen fix.
On the celeb front, the dream scene swarmed with hip happeners like MC and media personality Isabelle Racicot; actress and radio host Julie du Page with husband, Dazmo’s Andrew Lapierre; journalist Sophie Durocher with husband Richard Martineau; media personality Virginie Coossa with fiancé, actor/director Claude Meunier; songstress Ima with Bruno Savard; Olympic sisters Chloé and Maxime Dufour-Lapointe; Zombie Boy; and she who always gets us grooving, DJ Abeille Gélinas.
On the biz front, the crew was equally right-on, topped by past chairs, Cogeco’s Louis Audet with wife Jocelyne Francoeur-Audet, CAE’s Marc Parent, Norton Rose Fulbright Canada’s Norman M. Steinberg with wife Renée Kessler, and Medisys’s Dr. Sheldon Elman with wife Dr. Meryl Elman, as well as ( brace yourselves for the CEO and power sightings, noties!): Rio Tinto’s Alfredo Barrios with wife Elena; Cascades’ Mario Plourde with Marie Letarte; Desjardins’ Guy Cormier with Julie Forgues; SNC-Lavalin’s Neil Bruce with Emma Griffin; Stingray Digital’s Eric Boyko with love Audrey Vallières; TD Bank’s Brian M. Levitt with wife Portia Leggat; McKesson Canada’s Paula Keays with Pierre Lapointe; Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton’s Emilio B. Imbriglio with Lyne Tourigny; Manulife’s Richard Payette with wife Louise Beauregard; Pharmascience’s Morris Goodman with Lillian Vineberg; Goldman Sachs Canada’s Jason Rowe; Lowe’s Sylvain Prud’homme with Claire Chevrier; Cossette’s Mélanie Dunn with Louis Duchesne; the Montreal Gazette’s Lucinda Chodan with husband Dave Clarke; Groupe Copley’s Alan Rossy with wife Roula; La Presse’s Guy Crevier with wife Anick Beaubien; Lassonde’s Jean Gattuso with Sophie Labrecque; BMO Capital Markets’ Grégoire Baillargeon with wife Nathalie Forcier; Telus’s François Gratton with Amélie Cliche; RBC Royal Bank’s Martin Thibodeau with wife Caroline Desrosiers; Groupe Canam’s Marc Dutil with Catherine Larochelle; Nova Steel’s Scott B. Jones with wife Sophie; the Hon. Lucien Bouchard with wife Solange Dugas; Bouclair’s Daphnée Gagnon; WSP’s Alexandre L’Heureux with Valéry Zamuner; Mirum’s Mark Goodman with Sylvia Durgeria; Profusion Immobilier’s Carl Rémillard Fontaine with wife Lindsay Neufield; RitzCarlton Montreal’s Andrew Torriani with wife Arlene; Laurence Sellyn with wife Kathryn; Société Générale’s Pierre Matuszewski with Concepción’s Peralta Matuszewski; Mavrik Corp.’s Mark Pathy with wife Jessica; entrepreneurial force Philippe de Gaspé Beaubien with wife, Nannette de Gaspé Masques’ Nannette de Gaspé Beaubien; Dr. Tassos Dionisopoulos with Ariella Lang; and National PR exec Christine Boivin with husband, Catsima’s Simon Dupéré. (Whew! That brings new meaning to the ’60s slang “boss”!) ALL YOU NEED IS LOVE AND A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS: After hips swished to the final superbeat, and guests readied themselves for the customary parting smoked meat sandwich, Isabelle announced the post-raffle, outtasight tally: $1.73 million for the Canadian Cancer Society, funds integral to its mission to eradicate cancer (more than one in three Canadians will develop the disease in their lifetime) via research and prevention, while lending essential support to people living with the disease. None of this could have been possible without the love and support of generous guests, devoted sponsors including BDC, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, Cascades, CIBC, Desjardins, Fasken Martineau, KPMG, McKesson Canada, Power Corporation of Canada, Rio Tinto and Scotiabank, and, of course, the indefatigable committee, including The World’s Francine Prud’homme (attending with husband Luc), Figi Elman (with husband Stuart), Nathalie Schwartz Décarie (with husband, Triotech’s Charles Décarie), the Ritz-Carlton Montreal’s Katia Piccolino (with husband Rosario Campanella), Montblanc’s Sandrine Bohbot (with husband Michael Delouya, also of Montblanc), SNC-Lavalin’s Erik J. Ryan (with Anne-Marie Lussier), Dulcedo’s Karim Leduc (with Jessika Dénommée), Engel & Völkers’s Martin Rouleau, and Jeannie Saunders. Predictably, representatives of the Canadian Cancer Society, including national chairperson Robert Lawrie, national president/CEO Lynne Hudson, Quebec executive director Suzanne Dubois and Quebec chairperson Pierre Richard, were beyond pleased. Noties, that does it for now … with all my loving. Daffodil fields forever. Tomorrow, I’ll miss you. Peace out.