Variety Member News - chris byrnes communications

“To live a rich and abundant life, ask not what life can do for you, ask
what you can do for the lives of others”- Gary Amirault
Variety Member News
A Publication of Variety - The Children’s Charity of British Columbia, Tent 47 • Summer 2011
Show of Hearts Producer Is Our
2011 Heart Award Honouree
The 42nd annual Heart Awards will be
presented at a gala celebration June 22nd at
the River Rock Casino Resort. The guest of
honour is Telethon
producer Keri
Nelson, pictured at
left with Telethon
Chair George Pitman. At right, Keri takes a timeout to pose with McKenzie at the Telethon. Keri’s
vignettes for the Show of Hearts are a fusion of
creativity, skill, and compassion – an emotionevoking blend of magic moments that tug at the
heartstrings and help us share the
special challenges children face each day. Keri also produces
Variety’s corporate videos, award nominations, Variety Image
campaign, Leave a Legacy, Keep Your Promise, and Monthly
Giving public service announcements.
Also to be honoured is Howard Blank, Barker of the Year.
This past year, Howard created Variety’s Got Talent to
showcase rising stars and promote the Telethon. He also
helped promote the work of Variety and it was Howard’s
generosity that funded the cost of creating “Heartly” our
mascot. As well, last year Howard served as first vice president of Tent 47 and
as auctioneer at our Variety Auction.
Other award recipients include Jack Bibby and Edward & Beverley Lawson, Art
Jones Pioneer Awards; Shore 2 Shore, Colleen Wood Memorial Fundraising
Award; Fred Brown, Lee Bussard Memorial Show of Hearts Award; Tim Lewis,
Jim Ross, Ray Shum, and Larry Van de Keere, Show of Hearts Awards; City of
Surrey, Community with a Heart Award; Kirk Flynn of Buy-Low Foods, Travis
Lowe of Maple Leaf Foods, Giovanna Gerenscer of MarketPlace IGA, and Steve
Thompson of Pharmasave, Variety Corporate Hero Awards; Tammy Corness,
Jaspree Garcha, Jean List, and Alice Virani, Hey Rube Awards, and Vickie Ayers
& Family, Marlene Bilesky, Hellenic Centre of Vancouver, and Paul Pincott,
Angel Awards. As well, Anne Crittenden will receive her Presidential Citation and
Bridge Communications their Variety International Media Award.
Entertainment will be by two up-and-coming singers: Cole Armour and Shylo
Sharity. Tickets are $75 each, $750 for a table of ten for members. Non-member
price is $85; tables of ten for $765. Tickets are available through the Variety
office at 604.320.0505 or at www.variety.bc.ca. Please RSVP by June 3rd!
Presidential
Citation
Anne Crittenden
was awarded
a Presidential
Citation at
the Variety
International
Conference in
Chicago. Anne’s many achievements
will be celebrated and the award
presented at the Heart Awards dinner.
There are many at Variety who wear
their hearts on their sleeves in support
of children who have special needs.
Anne not only wears her heart on
her sleeve, she rolls up her sleeves
and digs in to lend a hand wherever
she can at the work she loves. “Just
putting a smile on a child’s face is the
most gratifying moment in any day,”
says Anne. “It makes all the hard work
very worthwhile.”
Mort Sunshine Award
As well as the Variety International
awards Tent 47 and its friends
received, we are delighted to
announce that our crack marketing
team of Carla Jones, Danielle Lucas,
and Sanaz Afshar were recognized
for their exceptional work. Their fall
2010 newsletter received the Variety
International Mort Sunshine Award.
Congratulations, ladies!
A Tip of the Top Hat
About 125 donors, volunteers, and
fundraisers were celebrated Saturday,
May 14th at the Top Hats event in
Kamloops’ BC Wildlife Park. The local
grassroots support we received last
year helped Variety provide funding to
Royal Inland Hospital and Kamloops
& District Society for People in Motion.
Variety also funded more than 65
Kamloops families.
Variety —The Children’s Charity, Tent 47, 4300 Still Creek Drive, Burnaby, BC V5C 6C6
Tel: 604.320.0505 • Toll Free in BC: 1.800.341.2040 • Fax: 604.320.0535 • Web: www.variety.bc.ca
Shylo Sharity, winner of the Variety’s Got
Talent contest poses with Wynonna Judd.
Shylo opened for Wynonna recently at the
Red Robinson Show Theatre.
Country Rocks!
TNB, formerly Boone County and 93.7
JRFM sponsored Country Rocks: Girls
Edition March 6th. The fundraiser
featured amazing performances with
4 of the 5 artists performing offering
their CDs for sale with $5 from each
CD going to Variety. Crystal Darche of
93.7 JRFM did a great job hosting the
event, encouraging the audience to
text-to-donate to help Variety.
107.5 KISSFM Radiothon
The 6th annual Variety Children’s
Radiothon on 107.5 KISS-FM in
Vernon was another successful
Variety fundraiser this spring. Citizens
of Vernon and the surrounding area
had the opportunity to text the word
“Kids” to 45678 to contribute a $10
donation to the Radiothon. We raised
over $41,000 and built 224 Buddy
Bears. Our thanks go out to Holiday
Inn Express, A&W, Pharmasave, The
Jammery, Kal Tire, and The Morning
Star newspaper who sponsored the
Radiothon.
Power104 Radiothon
The 6th annual Variety Children’s
Radiothon May 11th and 12th on
Power 104 in Kelowna raised another
$23,000 for Variety’s kids. The event
was supported by Kal Tire, The
Daily Courier, the Jammery, Can-Am
Mobility, Nesters Market, Dockside
Marine, and the Sandman Inn. Next
up: The Wolf 97FM Radiothon in
Prince George!
Variety Member News - 2
Variety staffer and longtime member Peter
Chipman poses with broadcaster Barry
Bowman and volunteers Judie and Janie
Wood at the Seniors’ Expo in Victoria.
Variety’s booth drew a lot of attention.
Three Big Boats for Hope
It’s that time of year again — and
the Variety special events staff and
hundreds of volunteers are geared
up for Boat for Hope events in
Vancouver (13th year), Victoria (7th
year), and Kelowna (5th year). Each
Boat for Hope provides as many as
200 children with a wonderful day
of boating and pirate-themed fun!
Skippers, Variety staff, sponsors, and
volunteers have almost as much fun
as the children, and silent auctions
help raise much-needed funding.
Since 1999, these events have
collectively raised over $1,100,000 for
children who have special needs, and
have provided an exciting day of fun
for over 3800 kids!
Food Fight Feeding Frenzy
Food Fight competitors at the 2nd
annual event included Market byJeanGeorges, O’Doul’s Restaurant & Bar,
Terminal City Club, Tigh-Na-Mara
Seaside Resort, Yew Restaurant
+ Bar, Abercorn Inn, and EBO
Restaurant at Delta Burnaby Hotel
and Conference Centre. We saw over
200 guests enjoying the delicious
brunch offerings from the participating
chefs. After the votes were cast, Yew
Restaurant + Bar at the Four Seasons
Hotel was declared the winning
restaurant, with EBO Restaurant at the
Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference
Centre the runner up. MarketPlace
IGA and The Georgia Straight
sponsored Food Fight! The Battle for
Brunch and Vancouver columnist Fred
Lee emceed the event. The event
raised $40,000 for Variety.
Children are what Variety is all about and
the birth of a child is a time for celebration!
Recently staffer Chris Graham and his
wife Jill welcomed into the world their
daughter Hayley Christen, 6lbs, 13oz —
Vancouver’s newest Canucks fan.
Sunshine Coach #548 was presented
in April. From left to right are Brian and
executive director Marilyn Lissimore
from Terrace and District Community
Services, Variety chairman of the board
of governors Doug Rogers, and our
marketing director Carla Jones.
Miss World Canada
The Miss World Canada pageant was
held on Thursday, May 19th at the
River Rock Theatre. The event is the
official preliminary to the Miss World
Pageant. Contestants were judged
on talent, confidence, photogenics,
positive body image, interview skills,
international costume, and their
“beauty with a purpose” video. Riza
Santos was crowned Miss World
Canada 2011; Poonam Punni was
1st Runner Up; Keatha Walsh, 2nd
Runner Up; Dionne Ng, 3rd Runner
Up; and Pooja Anand, 4th Runner Up.
The event raised $50,000 for Variety.
The Variety Heart Card
Variety’s new Heart Card provides
Variety with 20% of the amount from
the gift card, with 80% going to the
receiver of the gift card, to be spent
on whatever they choose, including
Variety. The cards are coming soon!
In 2005, she earned a certification
in Advanced Arts and Entertainment
Management from Capilano University.
Since then, she has continued to feed
her appetite for music by supporting
local artists.
For many years, photographer Rick
Etkin captured the smiles on Telethon
performers’ faces. Here Laura Fitzpatrick,
Dee Daniels, and Sarah Lapp pose in a
studio shot from the 1995 Show of Hearts.
Where Are They Now?
SARAH LAPP with Chris Byrnes
Every once in a while in my role as
Variety’s volunteer archivist, I get a
request for Telethon footage for a
specific performance. When I can
provide the person requesting the
footage with what they are asking for,
it gives me a great deal of satisfaction.
So it was with Sarah Lapp, who as a
10 year old youngster appeared on the
1995 Show of Hearts.
Sarah has cerebral palsy, and she
was first introduced to Variety through
programs offered at what was then
the Variety Child Development Centre.
On the Show of Hearts, Sarah danced
on stage with another youngster,
Laura Fitzpatrick, in their wheelchairs
accompanied by ballerinas to the
song “The Circle of Life” as performed
by Andy Thoma. Sarah requested
the footage to digitize and put up on
YouTube. So I asked Sarah, what
have you been up to since then?
Sarah is now a young woman, 27
years old, and she has been very
busy to say the least. She may have
been born with cerebral palsy, but she
hasn’t let her limitations keep her from
finding creative ways to express her
love of dance and music. Growing up
in Surrey, Sarah started performing
early in life. She sang in school and
community choirs, and designed
her own routines on the floor in her
elementary school gym class.
During the Vancouver 2010
Paralympic Winter Games, Sarah
and other dancers with disabilities
collaborated with the Canadian
Wheelchair Dance Academy on
Coca-Cola’s featured promotional
wheelchair dance performances at
the Torch Relay Celebrations. Sarah
has also appeared with this same
group in several demonstrations and
shows, including the Rediscover
Granville 2010 buskers’ festival.
Sarah’s latest artistic endeavour is
DANCIN’tergretion, a newly formed
dance collective with a mission to
develop and facilitate integrated dance
programs for both youth and adults in
the community.
In her offstage life, Sarah and her
husband Matt Pregent have been
working with their longtime friend,
Kent Loftsgard, to develop Wheelin’
Mobility, a 24-hour/on-call mobile
repair service for wheelchairs and
scooters. While building this new
business, Sarah is also working as
a contracted bookkeeper. From late
2006 to early 2010, Sarah worked as
a client services coordinator for Pacific
Assistance Dogs and still maintains
volunteer commitments to several
worthy charities and service clubs.
Sarah’s beautiful smile, once again
captured by Rick Etkin in a studio shot
from the 1995 Show of Hearts Telethon.
Thanks to the dance component of
RealWheels 12-week WheelVoices
Workshop, Sarah has had the
opportunity to share her creative
input into unique choreography for
wheelchair users, while also furthering
her training and advancing her
dancing skills. Through her dancing,
Sarah hopes to prove what is
possible for others, and to inspire
them to discover the best of their
own capabilities. She is working
to bring integrated dancing to a
wider audience and is using it to
open up conversations and create
relationships.
Sarah fondly remembers her
experience on the 1995 Show of
Hearts Telethon. “The experience
was amazing overall,” says Sarah,
“but remains especially memorable
because it was my first integrated
dance experience being featured
alongside able-bodied dancers.”
Sarah Lapp personifies what it means
to triumph over the challenges one
faces in life. When we, as Variety
members, see one of our Variety kids
succeed as Sarah has at creating an
inspired, artistic, entrepreneurial, and
meaningful life on her own terms, it
should bring a measure of gratification
for all our hard work on behalf of
children who have special needs.
Sarah, now a successful young woman,
has a lot to smile about, captured here
in a 2008 photo by photographer Jamie
deChamplain.
Auction & Vintage Market
The 30th annual Variety Auction and
Vintage Market presented by Buy-Low
Foods is chaired by Joanne Griffiths
this year. The event is scheduled for
November 6th at the Westin Bayshore
Resort. If you can provide an auction
item, please contact Joanne at
jmg416@gmail.com.
Digital Archivist Wanted
Variety executive director Barbie Hislop
recently presented the keys for Tent
47 Sunshine Coach #549 to Lynn Ned,
executive director of Spirit Bear Center
Society. Alongside Barbie is Terri Roe and
far right is Les Boon, both from the Spirit
Bear Center Society.
Media Award to Bridge
Bridge Communications was named
the recipient of Variety International’s
Media Award in the category of
Advertising/Public Relations at
the recent Variety International
Conference in Chicago. The award
recognizes Bridges’ stellar efforts in
promoting our Show of Hearts each
year, and will be re-presented at the
Heart Awards dinner later this June.
Marlie Oden and Bonnie Allan of
Bridge Communications first began
working with Variety in 2006. In
planning for the Show of Hearts each
year, Bridge Communications follows
a strategy of blanketing the province
with messages about the upcoming
telethon as “must-see” television
while raising awareness of the Show
of Hearts and Variety provincewide. Marlie and Bonnie have
done an excellent job, meeting and
exceeding all goals. Thank you Bridge
Communications!
Variety Member News - 4
Over the years, Variety Tent 47 has
accumulated literally thousands of
photographs that reside in 6 filing
cabinets in the Archives. Most of these
photos exist as film that is in danger of
fading away unless it can be scanned
and stored on disks. Digitizing these
photos can only be done in real time,
so it is time-consuming, but often
satisfying as photographic treasures
are unearthed. If you would like to
volunteer to assist, please contact
Chris Byrnes at the Variety office.
Pioneer Interviews
Tent 47 history is rich with stories,
magic moments, and colourful
characters who helped create one of
the most successful tents in Variety’s
world. But there are still holes in our
history that need to be filled. If you
were around in the early years, you’re
invited to contact Chris Byrnes at the
Variety office to schedule an interview.
Another Friend Passes On
Longtime Variety member and friend
Don Gemmell passed away peacefully
on April 11, 2011. Don retired to
Powell River, but that didn’t stop him
from supporting Variety. Each year
he would come at Juanita Valentine’s
request to emcee her Dogathon in
North Vancouver. Farewell, Don.
Bob Stewart
Recognized
Bob Stewart has
received some
well-deserved
recognition for his
leadership in helping
to create healthier,
stronger and more
vibrant communities
throughout the province. Bob is one of
36 outstanding British Columbians who
received a BC Community Achievement
Award this Spring.
“Each of these people has a
remarkable record of enhancing the
quality of life of residents throughout
the province,” said Premier Christy
Clark. “And each truly deserves to be
singled out and recognized by all British
Columbians for their contributions.”
Following a distinguished career in
policing, Bob Stewart has dedicated
his life to serving the community and
the province of British Columbia. Most
of us know Bob for his countless hours
dedicated to the oversight of Variety
BC for many years. As well as being a
leader at Variety since his retirement,
Bob has contributed to the success of
the Mt. St. Joseph Hospital Foundation,
Special Olympics BC, Boys and Girls
Clubs of Greater Vancouver, and the
Motor Dealer Council of BC. Bob was
also the founding chair of the Justice
Institute and a founding member of
Crime Stoppers Vancouver.
Bob received a BC Community
Achievement Award certificate and a
medallion designed by BC artist Robert
Davidson at a formal presentation at
Government House in Victoria on April
20, 2011. Congratulations Bob!
Upcoming Variety Events and Fundraisers
• June 4 — Victoria Boat for Hope, 10am-4pm, HMCS Malahat/Coast Guard
• June 11 — Vancouver Boat for Hope, 10am-4pm, Royal Vancouver Yacht Club
• June 18 — Kelowna Boat for Hope, 10am-4pm, Kelowna Yacht Club
• June 18 — Picnic in the Park, 11am-2pm, Stanley Park
• June 22 — Heart Awards Dinner, River Rock Casino Resort
• June 22-23 — Wolf 97FM Variety Children’s Radiothon, 6am-6pm, Prince George, BC
• July 1 — Canada Day 50/50, Hastings Racecourse
• July 6 — Grouse Mountain Picnic, Grouse Mountain
• July 8 — International Union of Operating Engineers Golf Tournament, Meadow Gardens
• July 10 — Hastings Community Day, Hastings Racecourse
• July 12-13 — Eagle 97.3FM Variety Children’s Radiothon, 6am-6pm, Courtenay, BC