Ellie and Naomi and Will arrive and are ready to PARTY!
The crowd starts to gather as Kyra and Sarah take the stage.
Kyra rockin’ the acoustic to Sarah’s powerful vocals. You guys are amazing!
Plenty of Paella one would think …but it was gone before I got to grab a bowl. Next year I’m gettin’ in early! Willow got a bowlful of course – she’s addicted.
The oyster bar, new to the event this year, was a hit!
The little peeps had front row seats!
Someone loves her little girl!
At one point — close to 20 kids in the pool…is that possible! Definitely a kid friendly party!
Granted, maybe not the best picture of the beautiful and talented Stephanie Hodnett but Sara loves my goofy smile and insisted I post this.
I didn’t know my brother Zach could play piano! Yowza!
Mamá doing what she does best…making sure we all eat well with food she has prepared with LOVE! Encarnita spent the week preparing this delicious dish! Thank you!
Sarah — simply incredible!
Gorgeous Kyra checking out the raffle prizes.
Toma Hawk! Next year we’ll get you on the stage, my friend!
Handsome Sam!
All set up and ready to shuck some oysters!
Juicy belting it out with Daddy and Himanshu on guitar.
Chris Dunn and his beautiful voice
Best bartenders ever? Worst bartenders ever?
The jury is still out but boy were they entertaining!
Gabriela!
I LOVE this kid! Not sure if there is anything she can’t do!
The Autumn Stones
— with Gary Bulter killin’ it on the alto sax. Dave and Ciaran — you guys ROCK!
Me hogging the mike, again!
What an incredible evening. The Music Night fundraiser turned out to be the best one yet! And thanks goes out to SO many people. It really is a group effort. Sara and I simply could not pull this off without the help of so many generous people.
I am grateful to Lisa Hipgrave for introducing me to this amazing cause and all of the incredible people associated with it. A few years ago when Lisa first told us about the TriAdventure Sara and I excitedly signed up to participate in the event…in typical Sara and Suzanne fashion we didn’t really think through what would be involved, we just knew there was a need, a cause, and gosh darn it we were going to jump in and support it. After registering for the event we found out we were successful in our attempts to have a baby so we quickly changed our participation from athletics to fundraising.
Music has always played a special role in both our lives growing up so the next best thing we could offer was to throw a music night to raise funds. Now in its third year, we look forward to music night being a mainstay in people’s summer calendars! Not only do we raise funds for the children of Nikibasika, we bring together our family, friends, and neighbours for an incredible evening of fabulous food and fantastic music!
This year I decided I would tip my toe in arena of athleticism and do the tri. I’ve been training for the run for the past few months, have one training ride under my belt, and hope my previous canoeing experience will serve me well on the paddling portion. 15k run, 15k paddle, and 140k bike…here I come!
With one day to go, I am as prepared as I ever will be.
Music Night raised $3185! (I mistakenly posted $1875 earlier having forgotten about the raffle and the bar proceeds!)
We simply could not pull off this event without the generous help from all of these wonderful people!
In no particular order…
The musicians:
The musical line up was out of this world!
Kyra and Sarah
Katy
Zach
JA, Tanya Oliva and Sara Julieta
Chris Dunn
Stephanie Hodnett
Gabriela Stafford with Nick Stafford
The Hermit Guitarist – Himanshu Desai
The Autumn Stones
Devin Shael Fox
Set Up Crew:
Dave, Gavin, and Liam Alford for the stage and lighting
Arrin, Corbin and Katlyn for numerous last minute errand running
Mike, Nancy, Christopher and Nancy for signage, ice ice baby, and muscle!
Chris Dunn for the amazing sound set up and running the board to ensure everyone sounded GREAT!
JA for MCing the event and all of his help during general set up
Lisa, Blair and Cate for all that they do…and they do A LOT! xoxo
Lisa Reilly for getting the bar goodies
Lorney Vallings for all of her amazing music gear
Helen and Danny for letting us run rampant through 69 Walmlsey!
The Food Crew:
Pam Ward for the delicious quesadillas and mushroom caps
Maya Bartram for the scrumptious pulled pork and intoxicating sangria
Andrew and Nancy Roche for the fabulous sliders
John and Encarnita Gardner for the abundant paella
Sam Tosaria for the novel oyster bar
Li Rodriguez for the tasty guacamole
Rose and Mama C and Lorena for all the preparation
Gabriela Stafford, Katia Rodriguez and Judith for the yummy desserts
The Raffle donations:
The Two Lisas
Victoria Robinson – Tennis Canada
Garden’s Path
Stephanie and Greg Wylie for securing the Cava dinner!
The Bartenders:
Pierre Fortin and JA
Jane, Erin, and Carlos
Danny and Dave
Beau in spirit!
If I have forgotten anyone, please, please, please forgive me.
With much love,
Sara and Suzanne
2 thoughts on “Oh what a night!”
Sara and Suzanne,
I am so sorry to have missed this year’s music night. Congratulations on pulling off another successful event. The money you raised is impressive but not nearly as impressive as the passion and energy that infuse into the event. Your energy inspires others to give and that is why the event continues to post results.
Great work and I promise to make the event next year. Also. good luck in the actual triathlon. Be sure to enjoy the journey.
Amazing night, Sara and Suzanne — thank you so so much for your commitment and community spirit…. I wanted to mention how awesome it was that Sara’s class wrote letters to the Niki kids a couple of years ago, and how some of them are still writing to each other. So many ways of connecting. Will be trailing behind you this weekend..> Cate
Sara and Suzanne,
I am so sorry to have missed this year’s music night. Congratulations on pulling off another successful event. The money you raised is impressive but not nearly as impressive as the passion and energy that infuse into the event. Your energy inspires others to give and that is why the event continues to post results.
Great work and I promise to make the event next year. Also. good luck in the actual triathlon. Be sure to enjoy the journey.
Ted and Ann Herbert
Amazing night, Sara and Suzanne — thank you so so much for your commitment and community spirit…. I wanted to mention how awesome it was that Sara’s class wrote letters to the Niki kids a couple of years ago, and how some of them are still writing to each other. So many ways of connecting. Will be trailing behind you this weekend..> Cate