Imagine Gala 2016: Down the Rabbit Hole

 

 

It was a truly magical evening, and Alice and the Mad Hatter agreed, joining us for a spot of tea before the festivities began. Tables were decked out as only a Mad Hatter’s tea party could be, with fresh flowers, pocket watches, clocks, playing cards, and so many other intricate, beautiful details, all dreamed up by the generous folks at Elegant Touches, who worked so hard to turn the ballroom into Wonderland for us. 

 

Thank you to our special guests, Alice and the Mad Hatter, as well as our Earth Angels, Brookfield Residential and Mammoet. Our emcees, Stacey Brotzel and Thomas Lukaszuk, did an amazing job, as did our auctioneer Sine Chadi. 

 

Dinner was a delicious mixture of whimsy and culinary art, and our guests were so generous during the auction part of the evening, bidding on adventures including a golf trip to South Carolina, a family vacation to Orlando, box seats at an Oilers’ home game, and dinner in their home. 

 

There were unexpected moments of generosity too, like when Dr. John Mullin, winner of our Balloon Pop contest, donated the grand prize – a blue topaz and diamond ring – back to the auction. Daniela Franceschini was the winner of our Lucky 13 draw, and she donated her prize, a trip to Nevada, back to the auction as well, and after Chef Stefan’s Dinner In Your Home received a lot of interest, he decided to do two, raising nearly $12,000 for the Kottage! We also had unexpected donations come forward during the course of the auction as well, from a stay at the Chateau Lacombe and dinner at La Ronde, to a holiday in Mexico. We were so humbled and grateful for these unexpected moments of charity for our cause. 

 

After the auction, the Ivory Keys, Brittany Graling and Serge Soucy, entertained us all with their dueling pianos, taking requests and tips, and donating their tips back to the Kottage!

 

It was such an amazing evening, and we need to thank our dinner sponsors, Elegant Touches and Arpi’s North Inc., for making it possible, as well as our supporting sponsors, ONE Properties (Previously WAM Development Group), Kingston Ross Pasnak, the Ben Sawatzky Foundation, and the Tony and Daniela Franceschini Family Fund at the Edmonton Community Foundation.

 

Thank you to all of our contributing sponsors, Kline Fine Jewelry & Design, Christina Kaumeyer, Grace Parrotta-King and Max King, Mountain Park Lodges, Ski Marmot Basin, Sara Kalke, Quickfire Cookery and BIN 104, RCMP Cst. Wendy Miller, Anna Loparco & Dentons Canada LLP, and Basketbelle, Production World, Amplomedia, Avenue Magazine, Data Print Group, JD Hornbacher, ZGM, The Chateau Lacombe and The Big Idea Graphic Design, and our media guests, Heidi Johannson from Shaw TV’s Galas & Giving and Nick Lees from the Edmonton Journal.