By JoAnn Grondin, Heritage Committee Coordinator

Carl Maiolani was the recipient of this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award (much to his surprise!) for all of his hard work over the years, including roles as the club’s Membership Secretary, and lovely weather selector. 

Our Annual Dinner was held on Saturday, November 9th and went very well, despite some setbacks. Many thanks to our volunteers, those who attended, our speaker Paul Pratt and our MC, Steve Marks. It was a very pleasant evening and I have lots of people to thank. Without their help, this dinner could not take place.  So, thank you to . . .

Ticket Sales:  Carl Maiolani, Ojibway Nature Centre staff, and me.  Our online sales were coordinated by Kory Renaud.

Set up:  Pauline Renaud, Shirley Grondin, Carl Maiolani, Paula O’Rourke, Tim Shortridge and myself.

Reception Desk:  Pauline Renaud and Kathy Lesperance.

Cashiers: Bonnie Ross and Shirley Grondin.

The following members brought desserts:  Cathy Lapain, Shirley Grondin, Paula O’Rourke, Aileen Petrozzi and myself.

Our MC:  Steve Marks did another outstanding job as MC.

Congratulations to Carl Maiolani, our Outstanding Achievement Award recipient for all his hard work over the years. 

Our Guest Speaker, Paul Pratt, for saving us by stepping in when the scheduled speaker had to cancel.  Paul presented and showed wonderful pictures of his recent trip to South Africa.    

To Steve for introducing our guest speaker and for thanking him.

To Pauline Renaud for drawing the names for the door prize winners. 

To the people who donated door prizes.  I don’t have all the names, so will just thank everyone collectively.

For donating silent auction items: Glenn Dennis and the estate of Melvin Dennis, Sheeva Nakhaie, Paul Pratt, JoAnn Grondin, Darlene Stracke, Lynda Corkum, Karen Cedar, the Anonymous donor, Regal Gifts, Doreen Grondin, Cathy Lapain, Christine Doman from Fantastic Sams, Gina Pannunzio, Tony Braithwaite, Kenlyn Bryant, Joan Walker and Mike Malone, Shirley Grondin, Gerry Kaiser, Linda Menard-Watt, The Windsor Spitfires, Jessica Rose, Barb Beck, Aileen Petrozzi, Tracey Colenutt, Steve Marks and Bob Hall-Brooks.

To the staff at the Serbian Centre for setup, cooking and good service.

Thank you to all who attended.  It was a great crowd and despite early problems, the evening turned out quite well!!