A Taste of MPI Holiday Cheer

On Thursday November 30, the MPI Ottawa Chapter descended to the lower lobby of the stunning host venue, Hilton Lac-Leamy to join their friends for an evening of festive fun emceed by Brian Henry (Quality Entertainment). Encouraged to dress as festive or fancy as they wanted; guests donned everything from ball gowns and Christmas suits to casual attire and ugly sweaters to show their holiday spirit.

As always, the Community Outreach Committee was hard at work collecting cash and food from guests who were asked to bring a toonie taped to their non-perishable food donation with all proceeds directed to the Ottawa Food Bank and Moisson Outaouais. A total amount of $673.20 was raised. Our two beneficiaries will receive an equal share of these funds in addition to the food donations collected, to continue with the wonderful work they do in our community. During the cocktail and networking reception volunteers mingled and sold 50/50 tickets with our lucky winner, Sarah Landry (Carleton U) taking home $450.00! Thank you to all our volunteers who helped us in raising these funds. A very special thank you to Freeman AV who, year after year, have worked their magic to make sure the donations make it from the event to both organizations.

As guests were ushered from the reception into the Grand Salon, they were introduced to the Big Soul Gospel choir who belted out some classic holiday hits with MPI’s own Martha Tobin(Staples) singing with the group. Wine glasses were filled with a choice of white or red wine, generously sponsored by Tourisme Outaouais, as guests made their way through the creative and tasty four-course meal:

Atlantic Salmon with Fennel and Citrus Salad
Cream of Onion and Apple Soup with Pancetta and Brie
Roasted Turkey Medallion au jus & Mini Beef Tourtière Duo with Roasted Squash and Carrots
Mini Yule Log

As the evening wound down, karaoke was just getting started! Katie Dolan (Ottawa Tourism) and Greg Plazek (Marriott), kicked it off with a lovely duet before more brave souls stepped up to serenade guests with a mix of entertainment from the Spice Girls to Serena Ryder.

A special thank you to our event sponsors, whose generosity made this evening possible. Our gold sponsor for the evening was Tourism Saskatoon, our Bronze Partner was AV-Canada, and our registration partner was D.E Systems.

Congratulations to our Volunteer of the Month draw winner, Angelita Aboukassam (Royal College), who is on not 2, not 3, but 4 volunteer committees! Enjoy spending your $50 MPI Bucks!

And finally, a big thank you to the planning committee for all the time and hard work that went into planning another successful Festive Dinner! The committee includes: Maryse Morin, Alice Parnis, Heather Lockwood, Cindy Gascon, Andrea Pinsent-Martineau, Karina Albert, Jess Poon and Sarah Landry.

  
Article written by Katherine Craig, The War Amps

Article edited by Darlene Kelly-Stewart, Stonehouse Sales & Marketing Services