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Oct. 7, 2005
Fairy tale food floats
Fund-raising event is a big hit in Vancouver.
Monika Ullmann
The 240 guests arriving for a swish cocktail reception to kick
off the second annual Night of 100 Dinners fund-raiser Sept. 29
were in a festive mood. An evening of themed dinners at 15 venues,
hosted mostly in private homes, created a buzz of anticipation.
Glamorous ensembles set off with sparkling jewelry were the rule
among the women – and the men were not to be outdone. Dr. Lyle
Levy sported an all-white karate suit and another fellow dazzled
in a black jacket with a red First Nations design on the back.
Lauri and Barry Glotman's home provided a spacious and sleek West
Coast-style stage, decorated with exquisite fresh flower arrangements.
The hostess wore spike-heeled boots and invited guests to please
check out every part of her home, including the bedrooms.
"I've been cleaning the house for two days and I want everyone
to see it," she declared.
Clearly, Vancouver is putting its own stamp on an event that in
Montreal has a 20-year tradition. That city's black-tie cocktail
party was held in an Aldo warehouse and drew 400 people. Their dinners
are much larger, up to 70 guests, as compared to a maximum of 20
here. But Sheryl Stein, who brought the idea to Vancouver, thinks
that there's plenty of potential in the much smaller Jewish community
here.
"People are so excited and I believe giving should be fun,"
she said. "And that fairy tale spark is the same in both cities."
The 100 Dinners idea was conceived in New York and, like all good
ideas, soon began to spread. However, Stein said that without the
support of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, it probably
wouldn't have happened here. When Stein floated the idea to her
friend, Yael Rubanenko, last year, there was some initial skepticism.
"But Yael is a risk-taker," said Stein, "and she
convinced the Jewish Federation to go ahead. Now it's really ticking,
because it has the professionalism of the Federation behind it."
The event was organized by the Women's Division of Federation's
Combined Jewish Appeal. Rubanenko, one of the three co-chairs of
the 100 Dinners fund-raiser, and the chair of the Women's Division,
Bev Libin, were clearly happy with the results of the evening. Not
only was the event sold out within a week, there are waiting lists
for next year.
The highlight of the evening was a spirited live auction of an exclusive
dinner for 20 at Umberto Menghi's private dining room, Circolino,
with wines donated by Charles and Isabelle Diamond. This dinner,
with a value of $4,000, was auctioned off for no less than $11,000,
bringing the total take for the evening to more than half a million
dollars.
In her short speech, Libin congratulated the committee on doing
"an amazing job" and invited everyone to join her next
year on a mission to Israel, where she says she saw horrendous poverty.
"I look at the campaign in a different light now, not in terms
of dollars, but in terms of the increasing number of Jews we can
help with those dollars," she said, concluding with the campaign
slogan, "Live Generously." Everyone in attendance received
a blue rubber bracelet engraved with those words.
Shortly before 7:30 p.m., guests began to depart for their dinners,
which had themes like Sephardi Enchantment, A Taste of Tuscany,
Midnight in Moscow and Hello Delhi!, among others. The themes were
dreamed up by the 100 Dinners committee, said Rubanenko. One of
the dinner hosts, Arlene Hayes, said that she couldn't have come
up with an idea like this "in a million years" and she
was thrilled that her dinner, By the Sea, by the Beautiful Sea,
at the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, was taken care of.
"I let everybody else do the cooking and baking now,"
she said.
Monika Ullmann is a freelance writer, editor and life
writer living in Vancouver. She can be reached at [email protected].
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