And your Italian fundraisers
Italy Uncorked raises a glass, and needed funds for children’s charities
The St. James Cathedral Event Space in downtown Toronto set the stunning backdrop for this year’s instalment of Italy Uncorked. Co-chairs and founders of this hotly anticipated sipping fete, Liz Gal
lery and Cathy Martin, truly go the extra mile in fundraising. The exclusive food and wine event raises money for Grapes for Humanity which supports children’s charitable causes in Third World countries. Nibbles were offered up by Citizen Catering and the Italian wines and Woodford Reserve Bourbon poured throughout the evening were generously donated. Excitement in the room reached a feverish pitch when dinner for 10 paired with fine Italian wines prepared by Massimo-Capra co-owner of Restaurant Mistura was auctioned off during a live auction hosted by David Keystone raising more than $20,000. “Having been to Guatemala and Cambodia as a Grapes for Humanity Ambassador I saw how we can really make a difference and impact the lives of the children in these countries,” said Liz Gallery. “The money we raise through our Un-Corked event goes to projects that will aid children who have faced humanitarian crises, conflicts and natural disasters.”
Sponsors included KPMG, BridgePoint Financial Group, Bloomberg-Sen Investment Partners,
Primary Capital, Lofranco Corriero Personal Injury Lawyers, Vlaad & Co., Timbercreek Asset Management, K.J. Harrison & Partners, David Hollingsworth Personal Injury Lawyers.
It was a swell crowd with fabulous taste in timepieces who came out to celebrate the 175th anniversary of Patek Philippe, the ultra-luxury watch maker, with headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.
More than 130 stunning watches were displayed in the exhibition that took place at Humbertown Jewellers in May and will be on display next in London, England, in June.
Last year a Patek Philippe pocket watch made for Henry Graves in 1933, (at that time and until 1989 was the most complicated watch in the world) sold at Sotheby’s for a $24 million, setting a record for the most expensive pocket watch ever sold. Bright lights coming out to the Hockey Hall of Fame for the exclusive event included Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Sorbara, Mr. and Mrs. Sam Mizrahi, Mr. Rupert Duchesne, Mr. Tyson Bytzek, Dr. Lily Cha, Dr. Patrick Liao, Dr. FareedAli, Mr. Andrew Danyliw, Dr. and Mrs. Tarulli, Dr. Sandy Tecimer and Mr. Edward Taylor. To quote the watchmaker, “You really never own a Patek Philippe, you merely take care of it for the next generation.” So much fun was had, that everyone lost track of time.
High-society socials joined Alex
andra Weston and her well-heeled grandmother, Sonja Bata for spectacular celebrations in honour of the 20th anniversary of the Bata Shoe Museum. Patrons were also able to take part in the opening of the exhibit Standing Tall: The Curious History of Men in Heels. Everyone in attendance put their best designer shoe forward, along with Alexandra’s parents Christine and Peter Schmidt, Galen and Hilary Weston, Galen Weston Jr., Christine and Peter Schmidt and architect Raymond Moriyama. The highlight of the night was hearing from three generations of beautiful Bata women: museum founder Sonja Bata, Sonja’s daughter Christine Bata
Schmidt, and Christine’s daughter Alexandra Weston.
The museum was transformed by Candice and Alison Events to reflect the 20th anniversary theme ... Expect the Unexpected! Guests were greeted by “shoefie” stations, then kicked up those heels and danced into the wee hours of the morning. These are hard shoes to fill but nobody does it better than the Batas.