About Last Night: Party Pics from a Trio of Major Fall Fundraisers

BC Restaurant Hall of Fame, Cause We Care and Chor Leoni hit all the right notes.

2018 BC Restaurant Hall of Fame, October 8, 2018

Six of this year’s 10 inductees into the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame are women. A watershed year, declared Ian Tostenson, CEO of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association. Presenter of the industry’s biggest night, the BCRFA welcomed some 300 guests, who convened at the Italian Cultural Centre for the gala’s 13th staging. Burdock and Co.’s Andrea Carlson, Les Amis du Fromage’s Allison Spurrell, winemaker Sandra Oldfield, Sequoia Company of Restaurants’ Eva Gates, the Pear Tree’s Stephanie Jaeger, and Pauline Felicella along with her husband Nick of Nick’s Spaghetti House joined fellow Class of 2018 honorees Chris Mills and Geoff Boyd of Joey Restaurants and Campagnolo’s Robert Belcham. Angelina Froste and John Aisenstat were honoured posthumously. At this party with a purpose, attendees tipped out generously in the silent and live auction, benefitting the BC Hospitality Foundation.

Geoff Boyd and Chris Mills of Joey Restaurants flanked fellow inductee Eva Gates of the Sequoia Company of Restaurants. 

The newest kid in the hall, winemaker Sandra Oldfield, received congratulations from Ian Tostenson, CEO of the BC Restaurant and Food Services Association. 

2018 inductee Stephanie Jaeger of the Pear Tree joins her husband, acclaimed chef Scott Jaeger, in the BC Restaurant Hall of Fame, the only one of its kind in Canada.Say cheese! Les Amis du Fromage’s Allison Spurrell received congratulations from fellow Hall of Famer and food writer Tim Pawsey.Restaurateur Robert Belcham escorted his girlfriend, Tina Saxton, to the elegant dinner event. Belcham was recognized for his significant contributions to B.C.’s restaurant scene.

Cocktails for a Cause, September 28, 2018

Vancouver-based Cause We Care Foundation hosted its annual tipple fest at the upscale D6 rooftop lounge located in the Douglas Hotel. Founder Andrea Thomas Hill welcomed a well-heeled crowd to her posh cocktail party to support single moms in need and their kids. The premiere of the charity’s newest video, produced by the Juice Group, and the $165,000 collected in donations had everyone raising their glass. Since 2007, the volunteer outfit has provided hampers, assisted families with day-care costs and contributed to the construction of the YWCA Cause We Care Home, a 21-unit subsidized housing complex in Vancouver’s Strathcona neighbourhood for low-income single mothers. Since the event’s inception, Hill and her posse of influential and entrepreneurial women have raised more than $3.4 million to help moms break the cycle of poverty.

Cause We Care Foundation directors Annabel Hawksworth, Andrea Thomas Hill and Tanis Goldman.Lara and Jonathan Greenstein of the Juice Group premiered their Cause We Care video at the cocktail party.Cause We Care beneficiary and benefactor Kathy Lilyholm (the YWCA’s associate director of fund development), and Capital Direct president Richard Nichols.Brian Hill, CEO of Aritzia, and restaurateur and chef David Hawksworth were among the leading men who lent support to helping single moms break the cycle of poverty.

At Home Gala, September 19, 2018

On the heels of gold-medal wins at the prestigious Singapore and Bali International Choral Music Festival, Chor Leoni—the globally acclaimed, locally loved male choir—hosted its annual At Home gala to kick off its 27th season. As usual, tail-coated singers served as hosts, servers and entertainers at this formal house party held at the stately Cecil Green Manor on UBC’s Point Grey campus. Chaired by Raincoast Crisps creator Lesley Stowe, the party featured a fine evening of merriment and song led by artistic director Erick Lichte. Members of the choir’s MyVoice junior ensemble later joined in to pull on heartstrings and purse strings just before the call for cash. The strategic move saw notes of various denominations rain down on the men, resulting in a handsome $65,000 night.

Chor Leoni general manager Stash Bylicki and founding choral member Rob McAllister.Artist Thomas Anfield created a work especially for the Chor Leoni benefit At Home. The sale of his painting contributed to a $65,000 night.Liam Kearns, Travis Fuchs and Reid Howard served as hosts, servers and entertainers at Chor Leoni’s annual house party.Sporting one of two choral gold medals recently won, artistic director Erick Lichte and party chair Lesley Stowe welcomed attendees to the annual gala.Global TV’s Coleen Christie emceed while Blue Shore Financial CEO Chris Catliff sponsored the choral fete.