Peter Gzowski Invitational, <strong>Quebec</strong> <strong>2007</strong> Keynote Speaker, Mark Kelley. Just some of the Gala night Silent Auction items. Cocktails at sunset by Lac Brome. ow - the <strong>2007</strong> <strong>Quebec</strong> PGI is now W part of our history. Once again QELA had the honour of hosting the <strong>Quebec</strong> PGI. It was a wonderful event- from the launching Gala Benefit dinner to the last word from our poet laureate- L. Ian McDonald. We do not have the final total of the funds raised this year, but we know that it was a success. This year’s Gala dinner with our guest speaker, Mark Kelley was a sell out. The atmosphere was that of a charming garden party. The cocktails were served on the lawn and the dinner in a room with a million dollar view - the sunset was a show in itself. Mark Kelley spoke so eloquently about his adventures as a CBC journalist. What I shall always remember of Mark was how down to earth and approachable he is. Mark has seen what a lack of literacy skills can do and fiercely supports adult literacy. This year’s gala had a first - a silent auction. Thank you to everybody who donated items and a special thank you to Sherbrooke Air, who donated three return airline tickets to Toronto. Mrs. Evelyn Blackwood, the winner of two tickets, is already planning a “a theatre trip” in the fall. This event could never have happened without the help of the Gala committee so capably chaired by Gerda Duncan of Knowlton. The generosity of the Knowlton residents shone once again. The actual golf day ended up being the hottest day of May. No complaints were heard about the sunshine at all and all golfers had a great time. Wendy Seys had her volunteers in all the right places and the day went off as smoothly as possible. Even though we had to change the format from a shot gun to a regular tee off schedule, everybody was in such a good mood that few complaints were heard This year Keith Ward from Lachute was the recipient of the Co-operators Learner Achievement Award. Keith received a certificate, a beautiful pen and $200.00. He spoke very movingly about his trials as an adult learner. Congratulations Keith! Because of the generosity of our sponsors, we had enough articles to have another silent auction at the golf tournament. I would like to express a very special note of appreciation to Hannah Productions for the huge donation that they made. Everybody that won articles left with smiles on their faces. And as is the tradition our day ended with a poem read by our Poet laureate L. Ian MacDonald. A special thanks to Tasha Kheiriddin who wrote the poem that Mr. MacDonald read. L to R: Ilze Epners, PGI-QC Committee Chair; Michel Laflamme, Director-General of Air Sherbrooke and Evelyn Blackwood, winner of two return tickets to Toronto, compliments of Air Sherbrooke. And so another PGI becomes history. Because of the hard work of all the committees - with Patti Moore and Cathy Nolan chairing our silent auction items, Karen Ingalls for all her creative PR materials, Gary Briand working hard to get corporate sponsors and Carolyn Marsh pulling all the golf details together and doing all the behind the scenes work of book keeping and thank you letters – our event was again a huge success. I wish the next chair and organizational committee much success and know that we can count on all the QELA members to give a helping hand. Thank you and happy golf. - Ilze Please see page 8 for this year’s poem! QELA CONTACT, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mid-<strong>June</strong> <strong>2007</strong> Page 6
Peter Gzowski Invitational, <strong>Quebec</strong> <strong>2007</strong> QELA CONTACT, Vol. 3, Issue 1, Mid-<strong>June</strong> <strong>2007</strong> Page 7
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