A Night For New Zealand Benefit Concert raised over $3,000

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

Last updated: April 25, 2011 11:00 p.m.

The April 16 2011 benefit concert at St. Matthew’s United Church on St. Clair in Toronto was a great success with over $3,000 in cash raised to support the victims of the recent earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Happy at the end of the successful event

Congratulations to Dr. Paul Jessen and Dr. Christina Lai on organizing this fundraiser.  Click here for the original article and the background to this story.

The official program from the event follows.  Watch for updates as I add photos and videos and an overview of the entire event which I attended as a sponsor and blogger.

OFFICIAL PROGRAM:
Host: Amanda Soha
Buskers: Scott Cooper, Gaurav Dua, Ikho Shin
Speeches
Singing of the Canadian National Anthem
Singing of the New Zealand National Anthem
Christie Chorale & St. Matthew’s United Church Choir:
On a Clear Day – lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner, music by Burton Lane, arranged by Carl Strommen
Merry Widow Waltz – Franz Lehar, Lyrics by Christopher Hassall
Ave Maria – Giulio Caccini, arranged by Patrick M. Leibergen
This is My Island in the Sun – Irving Burgie
Simon Falk, ballroom dance
Kalya Ramu Jazz Group
Isabel Lee & Hera Chan, violin and piano duet
The Dream- composition by Isabel Lee
Lynda Maxwell & Don Macmillan
Amazing Grace – arranged by Althouse
Dianne Wells & Don Macmillan
Chariot’s Comin’ – arranged by Mark Hayes
INTERMISSION
St. Matthew’s United Choir
Blind Man-  spiritual, arranged by Diane Loomer
Every Time I Feel the Spirit– spiritual, arranged by Earlene Rentz
Danny Boy– traditional Irish, lyrics by Fred. E. Weatherley, arranged by Sumner Salter
Michael Vintilla, ballet dance
Albert Han, solo guitar
Alan Macdonald
I Know That My Redeemer Liveth (The Messiah) – Handel
Paul Tackaberry & Tom Poldrow
Peaked in ’79
Susan Hirst
You’ll Never Walk Alone (1945 musical Carousel) – Rodgers and Hammerstein
Ben D’Cunha, jazz music
Tyler Barr
Special Thanks to:  the Earl Haig students, Dr. Christina Lai, Dr. Paul Jessen, and Stephanie Marshall.

Thank you to the sponsors: World Class Bakers, A. F. Home Bakery, Starbucks, Tim Hortons, Baker Street Bakery, Loblaws, Globe and Mail, Wal-Mart, Catania Italian Cuisine, Portucale Restaurant, Eye For Detail: www.xiziluo.wordpress.com, The Elegant Garage Sale – Lynn Albert & Family, Leave Nothing But Footprints (LNBF), Canadian Art Foundation, John’s Hobbies, Master Sha, Glenda MacDonald, Roger and Joan Cunnington, Hemingway Restaurant, Acquolina Ristorante, Gerry’s Fast Foods, Absolute Endurance Training and Therapy, domenica&drea Salon and Spa, Vivance Dance Studio, Dave’s on St. Clair, Ann Millyard, Art Gallery of Ontario, 60 Minute Photo Lab.

Glenda MacD.

Posted in Art, Authors Female, Canadian artists, Christchurch, New Zealand, Dance, Emerging talent, Fundraisers, Good causes, Live, Music, Painting, Poetry, Sterling Silver Jewellery, Talent showcases, Traditional, Volunteers, Writing | Leave a comment

“A Night for New Zealand” Benefit Concert

Posted on April 7, 2011 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

Updated April 30, 2011 6:40  p.m.

 

On February 21, 2011 a powerful 6.3 earthquake rocked Christchurch, New Zealand resulting in many fatalities and tremendous infrastructure devastation. Click here for a photoblog at MSNBC.  The funds raised from this upcoming benefit concert will directly support the victims of this tragic event. Click the following links for a March 3 article at the New Zealand news site TVNZ “Red Cross Says Emergency Grants Could Take up $13 million”   and the related video  of Sir John Hansen, Chairman of the Red Cross Earthquake Appeal Commission discussing the ongoing needs and that 10,000 people may apply for grants.

Event date: Friday, April 15th, 2011. 7:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. (*Silent Auction: Doors open at 6:30 p.m. to view and bid on the items.)
Venue: St. Matthews United Church, 729 St. Clair Ave. West (at Rushton, just west of Christie), Toronto. Wheelchair accessible. 500 capacity. Download PDF of Google Map St. Matthews Church 729 St. Clair or get directions from your location using  Google Maps .
Parking:  there is limited parking behind the church. There are many public lots in the vacinity.
Admission (benefit concert): $15 regular, $10 students, $40 families
For more info: Dr. Paul Jessen, info@paulemlynjessen.ca or call 416-419-6904.

Click here for a PDF of the Programme .

I will be attending this fundraiser for Christchurch, New Zealand, organized by Dr. Paul Jessen and Dr. Cristina Lai (a part-Maori from Taiwan) which will have a focus on music and dance. The evening will cater to every taste, with rap, ballet, and ballroom dancing, popular songs, jazz standards, and classical music. A call for donations, a silent auction* and refreshments will add to the funds raised through admission.
**See below for list of performers, event sponsors,  and silent auction items donors.

The church holds up to 600 people. It would be great if they could have a full house. To reserve tickets and pay for them in cash at the door  email info@paulemlynjessen.ca .

* I am an Independent Representative of Silpada Sterling Silver Jewellery. I am donating a sterling silver “cha-cha” bracelet worth $202.00 (Cdn$) for the silent auction. Click the following link for a PDF of the catalogue page. It is Item C.   Sterling Silver Silpada Canada Cha-Cha Bracelet .  In addition I will donate 15% of my retail sales to anyone purchasing Silpada jewellery from me in Canada prior to May 15 who tells me they want to support this fundraiser.  Email me at sailonsilvergirl@rogers.com  for the link to my MySilpada webpage for online ordering,  to attend my next party, or for more info on Silpada. Or hold your own party and raise some more funds for this cause!

Hope to see you there. I will be the one wearing all the silver….

glenda

**PERFORMERS

  • Susan Hirst, a NZ soprano resident in Toronto
  • Dr. Paul Jessen, a NZ choir director, organist, and pianist resident in Toronto
  • Ben D’Cunha, voice and piano, jazz standards
  • Allan Macdonald (tenor)
  • Christie Chorale, director Dr. Paul Jessen
  • St. Matthew’s Church Choir, Dr. Paul Jessen
  • Students from the Claude Watson School of the Arts program based at Earl Haig Secondary School
  • Rock band
  • Ballroom dancing demo
  • Ballet dancing
  • Rap dancing
  • A string quartet
  • A brass band
  • A mini fashion show

MUSIC

  • Pokarekare Ana (famous Maori song) arranged by Dr. Paul Jessen
  • Songs from Musicals (On a Clear Day, Merry Widow)
  • Jazz standards
  • Spirituals & other lighter music

EVENT SPONSORS

SILENT AUCTION DONATIONS

Doors open at 6:30 p.m. to view and bid on the items including:

Posted in Christchurch, New Zealand, Dance, Disaster relief, Fashion, Fundraisers, Good causes, Live, Music, Sterling Silver Jewellery, Traditional | 1 Comment

Autumn Art Sale – Fundraiser for McMichael Canadian Art Gallery Volunteer Committee

Posted on October 16, 2010 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

Last updated: March 24 2013

This annual McMichael Canadian Art Gallery Sale was held on October 24 2010. I had expected to guest-volunteer selling Canadian art (painting or sculpture) but my car was rear-ended on the way to the event! Hope to volunteer for a future event.  Check out the link for more details. Support the arts and this great group of dedicated volunteers!

mcmichaelvolunteers.com

Every October, the McMichael hosts the prestigious Autumn Art Sale, a major fundraiser for the McMichael Volunteer Committee, featuring original work from 50 of Canada’s most talented painters and sculptors. The work on display is selected from over 200 submissions and is offered for sale for three …
Posted in Art, Art Gallery fundraisers, Art sales, Canadian artists, Fundraisers, Good causes, Painting, Sculpture, Volunteers | 1 Comment

Happy 9/11 Birthday

Posted on September 12, 2010 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

I wish everyone would stop fussing about my birthday you said the week before when I was busy planning my escape from my job so on that special day believe me I had more on my mind than your birthday as I held my carefully-composed resignation letter gleefully close waiting for the right moment to spring it on my boss when someone yelled that a plane had just flown into the World Trade Centre where’s that oh yeah New York that’s weird and I thought crap now I am going to have to wait until the fuss dies down so I can go in there and tell my boss I am leaving three days short of eight years of all the luck a frigging plane had to crash into some building in New York just as I was trying to resign so I sit impatiently waiting for my escape clause when the office radio blares the news that a second plane has crashed into the other tower and suddenly it is no longer a wayward pilot no tragic accident but something really big and our brains aren’t working because it doesn’t make sense the image on my laptop screen shows smoking towers and then a building collapses oh my god there are people in those buildings and reports that some are jumping I feel sick  the scenes of dust-covered terrified victims fleeing at street level and all of us miles away are also in shock and starting to think about who we might have known in those buildings and they are no longer an image on a screen but a tragedy of mythic proportions and how small am I to be pissed off about not being able to resign that day when people who maybe loved or hated their jobs and arrived a short time ago this morning as I did are now dead or dying so I tuck my letter into my briefcase for another day and pick up the phone to call you up north and ask are you happy now that no one is talking about your birthday

c. 2010 Glenda MacDonald (written in Canada on September 11, 2001)

Visit www.national911memorial.org

Posted in Grief, Poetry, Writing | Leave a comment

Good Food for All

Posted on September 6, 2010 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

Nick Gasparro with "Good Food for All" cookbook

Help support the charitable organization The Stop  in Toronto’s west end by purchasing a copy of  their cookbook “Good Food for All – Seasonal Recipes from a Community Garden” (c. 2009) . The Stop which began as one of Canada’s first food banks has the view that “food should be a basic human right.” Their wide variety of programs includes the food bank, community kitchens and gardens, cooking classes, drop-in meals, peri-natal support, and much more.

I’ve got my copy and am looking forward to trying the recipes, including “Healthy Strawberry Bread with Vanilla Mascarpone” and “Spice-Rubbed Pork Roast” made wtih a touch of maple syrup. Pick up your copy today at  Vince Gasparro Quality Meats . All proceeds are in support of The Stop’s programs.

For more information on The Stop’s programs and to make donations see www.thestop.org .

For quality grain-fed chicken, veal, beef, and lamb, and a copy of “Good Food for All” visit
Vince Gasparro Quality Meats, 857 Bloor Street West, at Ossington (South side, East of Ossington), in Toronto.  
Phone: 416.534.7122; Email: info@mybutcher.ca; Web: www.mybutcher.ca

Posted in Cooking, Food, Food banks, Gift ideas, Good causes | Leave a comment

Chains

Posted on August 31, 2010 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

Chains

If only I were free
of the love chains that bind me
the hate chains
the hurt chains
the grief that entwines me.

If only it were simple
and easy to be free
of the knots
and the tightly wound springs.

…….

I found the key
to the lock on my heart.

Chains bring together
what pain pulls apart.

Grief shared
is grief spared.

c. 2010 G. MacDonald

Posted in Grief, Poetry, Writing | Leave a comment

My Pomegranate

Posted on August 29, 2010 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

My Pomegranate

Because your universe of hidden passages
And juicy tidbits
Belies your leather-like exterior

Because your hive of thin membranes
Supports your plump ruby jewels

Because you taste sweet yet tart

Because your fragrance is unearthly

Because each of your kernels
Contains a crunchy seed
I could harvest and plant them

Because your essence is crimson
It stains me
As I devour you

c. 2007 G. MacDonald

———–

This poem was inspired by my schoolyard fascination with my Italian girlfriends who would open and devour this exotic fruit during recess. 

It was written for a continuing education poetry course for which we were tasked with preparing a descriptive paragraph then taking the concepts and structuring them into poetic verse. This is the final version of my poem after several re-writes under the marvellous tutelage of my instructor Marilyn Gear Pilling, an award-winning Canadian poet and author of fiction books. The fifteen or so students in our class were inspired by Marilyn’s lectures, personal insights, and her enthusiasm for our budding talents, not to mention the wonderful end-of-term bash at her house where we drank wine, ate our pot-luck contributions, and shared some of our work in a poetry circle.

While poetry is often written in isolation it is meant to be shared. Through “workshopping” your work in a non-threatening environment it can only improve. I have written poetry all my life but very little is yet published… It resides in scraps of paper, journal jottings, and old digital files on various computers. I look forward to sharing more with you and getting your feedback.

If you have a poem you would like me to consider sharing from this site, let me know!

Click here for more information on Marilyn Gear Pilling and a list of her publications.

2007 – 2010 Glenda MacDonald

 

Posted in Food, Poetry, Writing | Leave a comment

Help polish off Juvenile Diabetes

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

One of the many reasons I am proud to be an independent representative of Silpada Designs, Inc.  is their Polishing Off Juvenile Diabetes program. In conjunction with its independent reps, Silpada Designs will donate a portion of the proceeds of every sale of Silpada Designs Polishing Cloths to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF).  The 10″ x 8″ cotton fabric cloth is specially treated and designed to polish silver, gold, and platinum jewellery.  Looking for a great  little gift for a loved one or your customers? To purchase cloths and help support this program in Canada email info@sailonsilvergirl.com or your independent Silpada Designs rep if you already have one. For sales outside of Canada see www.silpada.com . For additional program details visit www.pojd.org.

Posted in Direct sales opportunities, Fashion, Gift ideas, Good causes, Juvenile Diabetes, Sterling Silver Jewellery | Leave a comment

Top-selling Female Book Authors

Posted on August 22, 2010 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

I took a few minutes to review Saturday’s Globe and Mail’s lists of best-selling books because I was curious to see how many of the titles are by female authors. According to the references provided, the lists were compiled from sales figures provided by BookNet Canada’s national sales tracking service, BNC SalesData, and some bookstores across Canada. For access to the complete article see www.globeandmail.com  or check out a the Globe Focus & Books section of the August 21, 2010 edition.

Here is a quick recap:

National Fiction and Non-Fiction Bestsellers

Fiction: Other than the late Stieg Larssons’s The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest, I note that the other nine authors  (90%) are all female in the top ten sales of hard-cover fiction books. Second place went to Shilpi Somaya Gowda for Secret Daughter.  The degree of representation by female authors drops to about a third in paper book sales. Mr. Larsson’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire take first and second place in this category, followed by Elizabeth Lowell’s Running Scared.
Non-fiction: Representation by female authors  drops further in the non-fiction hard-cover category. Elizabeth Gilbert’s Committed  and Gretchen Rubin’s The Happiness Project came in fourth and fifth following books by Neil Pasricha, Justin Halpern, and Andrew Morton. In paper, Elizabeth Gilbert’s Eat Pray Love comes in at first place with few of the other books out of ten being written by women.

Canadian Fiction and Non-Fiction, Science, and  Health & Fitness Bestsellers

Canadian Fiction: The Globe & Mail  shows the top-selling 15 books in fiction and non-fiction but does not indicate whether they are hard-cover and/or paper back, so I will assume they are hard-cover. In the fiction category at most a third of the books are by female authors, with Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s Secret Daughter in the top spot, Kathy Reich’s 206 Bones  in the third, and Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood  in the fourth.
Non-Fiction: In the non-fiction list no female authors are represented until 12th place held by Marina Nemat’s Prisoner of Tehran.
Canadian Science Books:  of the 10 books listed only two are by female authors – Barbara Krumhart’s E-Z Anatomy And Physiology and Packing for Mars by Mary Roach.
Canadian Health & Fitness Books: Female authors are represented to a greater degree in this category with Nathasha Turner’s The Hormone Diet, Tosca Reno’s The Eat-Clean Diet Recharged,  and  Diane Hart’s Oxygen’s Pick It Kick It  in the top three spots.

Feedback loop: Have you read any of these books by female authors? Which ones are your favourites? I am particularly interested in what you think about the books about science.

Posted in Authors Female, Books, Reading, Writing | 1 Comment

Creativity

Posted on August 21, 2010 by Glenda MacDonald, Editor

Thoughts
So many lively coloured dots
Rebounding
Sounding soundlessly
Lovely patterns longing to be free
Making sense to no one else but me

c. 2010 G. MacDonald

 

Posted in Poetry, Writing | Leave a comment