Pêche Pêche
Ste-Anne de Bellevue, Beaconsfield, Hudson 
President's Message
Despite the challenges presented in 2008 WICAC managed to sustain another successful year of fundraising. Our Gala was yet again a resounding success. It is so encouraging to witness what can be achieved when a group of dedicated people come together to raise money for a worthy cause. WICAC is growing steadily each year because of the incredible people who give time and energy to the various fundraising events.
Gala 2008
One of the people who worked diligently, pursued detail relentlessly and generally nagged us all into doing a good job was Bob Souch. This year he was outstanding, and next year Bob will be Chairman of the Gala on May 2nd and will guide this event to even greater success. Many thanks Bob!
Supporting Bob with the setting up was the invaluable Grenon family who as usual spent the whole day making sure all the tasks were completed. Thank you Richard, Louise, Gen and Nic. Also many thanks to Sue Cadieux and Joanne Cadieux who also spent many long hours on Saturday helping. Pierre Cardinal, Eric Lillie, Tom Thomas, Bob Yelland, Marc Leger, Ray Proudlock, Graham Foster, Brent Andary, Stephen Johnstone, Michael Johnstone. Thank you all for transforming the courts so effectively.
Many thanks to the ladies who helped out Edwina Mattinson, Krys Fews, Maureen Breedon, Judy Pharo, Evidga Jaggi, Vassue Senthivel, Rosa Barbucci, Evelyn Thomas, Kathy, Kostlivy, Sheila Hayward.
Lauren Broad and Andrea Johnstone organised the volunteer waiters and waitresses excellently, always with a smile, thank you ladies. Thank you also to Lisa Cummerow, Kristen Webster, Ashley Murdoch, Parisa Hassani, Jasmine Lillie what a great job - not even a broken cup - well that I know of!
Mel Proudlock and Heather Pelletier - terrific auction as usual, very successful, many thanks.
The fifty fifty raffle which we have only been doing for 2 years was a great success due to the expert selling skills of Attalos Archontopoulos and Lily Elsamra. Well Done.
Eric Pearson not only knows how to design an exceptional web-site but he has musical talent as well. Time Warp seems to be going from strength to strength, congratulations. Many thanks go to Tony Romandini who has supported us from the beginning and is a great favourite with all of us. And for the first year we had the pleasure of listening to Lost Legends (who played in the bar afterwards) they have the distinction of being the first band appearing at our fundraiser to close down the bar - literally. Thanks Tom Thomas, Brian Forsyth,Bob Yelland.
A special thank you to two ladies who always carried out their jobs so promptly. Caroline Laforet - for translating all our documents and posters -and to Linda Noury who redesigned our posters and tickets. Josee Bilodeau created a wonderful party atmosphere with all the balloons.
We must not forget that the WITC has been one of our supporters from the beginning and so I would like to thank Christine Walker and the staff at WITC for their patience and understanding throughout the years. Thanks to Vic Breedon for the wonderful photos (which are displayed on our web-site) and for looking after the corporate people assisted by Maureen Breedon and Judy Pharo.
Autumn Golf Classic 2008
The golf committee ran our third annual golf tournament in September and despite fewer golfers the day was enjoyed by all. Many thanks to Graham Foster for the many hours he spent promoting the golf and also for assuming the role of Chairman, without Graham the golf would not have been such a success. Scott Copeland and Diana Perez were invaluable on the day of the tournament, and Teresa Irving proved her sales skills with the 50/50 draw in the evening which raised 1,400 dollars, great work Teresa.
I would also like to especially thank Andrew Phillips for all the help he has given us this year, not only as member of the golf committee but also helping us with the Run and Gala. We are indebted to you Andrew.
Other Events in 2008
Other events that were hugely successful was a squash-a-thon in April. Thank you to Ray Proudlock, Tara Saunders and Jim Morrison who were involved in organizing this and special thanks to Dave Phillips for taking time out of his busy schedule to help us.
Thank you to Linda Noury for donating part of the proceeds from her soft ball tournament to WICAC.
Wayne Birmingham, a longtime supporter of WICAC, ran 2 successful darts tournaments and we thank him for all the time he spent organizing these events.
Finally I would like to thank the Phoenix Runners for their expertise which made the fifth annual Fun Run in May the most successful so far. We look forward to working with them again next year. Special thanks to Steve Allan who was an inspiring Race Director and thank you to the rest of the committee, Jim Gates, Christine Campbell, Gary Brown and Alison Reichert, who carried out their jobs so efficiently. Thank you to the Running Room and Caroline Kronlov for all their advice regarding the Run and for promoting us in the media.
Special Thanks
I would finally like to thank Phillip Hamilton of AVD Visuels for the superb work he has done for us throught the years. He is a true supporter and friend. Also I would like to thank Jennifer Kapsch and Andre Paquette of Bravo Rentals for their advice, professional service and friendship.
The year ahead
2009 may be a challenging year for fundraising but WICAC will continue to work hard to provide funds for Nova West Island, West Island Palliative Care and CCS.
We are proud to announce that we raised 40,000 dollars for our charities in 2008, and look forward to the challenge of raising even more in 2009. With the support of family, friends and volunteers we are,
OneTeamOne Dream,
Paula Hassani