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The Gala of Hope will miss one of its valued and loved volunteers, as Diane Baker of Cannington lost her own battle with cancer in early 2007. Diane was an energetic and caring young woman who was always the first one to offer her help to anyone in need. Her husband Bob and seven year old son Josh, and all of us who had the pleasure of knowing her.

We would like to take a moment to thank the generous contributors for past Galas. The following generously donated goods that we were able to auction off this past year:

1st Class Flight Training, Uxbridge A&P- 411 Thickson Rd.- Whitby A&P- 80 Thickson Rd.- Whitby A&P- 5 Points Mall- Oshawa Air Canada Vacations Ajax Lioness Club Bacardi Baker's Table- Oshawa BDO Dunwoody LLP- Oshawa Beauty Beyond Skin Deep- Oshawa Bella Notte Ristorante- Whitby Best Western- Cobourg Black's Superstore- Ajax Blossom- Port Perry Blue Heron Casino- Port Perry Boarding Hut- Port Perry Bobcaygeon Lion’s Club Body Shop- Oshawa Botanica- Port Perry Brittany Bros- Lindsay Brock's Dept. Store- Port Perry CAA Travel- Oshawa Canada Post Office- Little Britain Cancor Building Services- Toronto CARP Casey’s Grill- Oshawa Cedarlane B& B- Ashburn Charity Marketing Group Chateau De Charmes- Niagara CIBC Run For the Cure City Grill- Toronto Clarins Fragrances Clinique CN Tower Costco- Ajax CruiseShipCentres- Oshawa Darlington Nuclear- Bowmanville Deer Creek Golf & Banquet Facility Deer Run Golf Course. Little Britain Deerhurst Resort Delta Chelsea- Toronto Delta Pinestone Resort Dive Source Scuba Supplies Drive For Life- Mississauga Durham Family YMCA Durham Regional Police- Oshawa Elysian Fields- Whitby Esso Imperial Oil Estee Lauder Cosmetics Everlasting Memories- Port Perry Fairmont Royal York- Toronto Family Wellness Clinic- Whitby Floor Fashion Centre- Pickering Food Basics- Lindsay Forbidden Pleasures- Oshawa Forever Friends- Port Perry Francesco's Ristorante- Port Perry Gallery Café & Restaurant- Oshawa Ganong Bros. Ltd.- New Brunswick Gerdau Ameristeel- Whitby GolfNorth Properties Goodwood Lions Club Gus Brown Pontiac Buick H.M. Brooks- Oshawa Ltd. Haliburton District Lions Club Hank's Bakery- Port Perry Hard Rock Café- Toronto Harknett Musical Sve.- Markham Haugen’s Chicken 'N Ribs- Pt Perry Heaven On Earth Spa- Cobourg Herbal Magic Systems- Uxbridge Hilltop Restaurant- Courtice Holiday Inn Select- Toronto Airport Home Outfitters- Oshawa Hot Rocks Creative Diner- Whitby Hunter's Horn Pub- Whitby Ives Florist- Port Perry Ken Book Store- Lindsay King's Bay Golf Club- Port Perry Kreb's Restaurant- Whitby Laura Canada- Toronto Lavender & Laces- Toronto Lenscrafters- Pickering Lighting Plus- Oshawa Lindsay Lion’s Club Loblaws- Lindsay Loblaws- Oshawa Long & McQuade- Oshawa L'Oreal Fragrances Luke's Country Store- Port Perry Lulu Magazine M.A.C. Cosmetics Mark's Workhouse- Lindsay McIntosh-Anderson Funeral Home META4- Port Perry Metroland Community Newspapers Minden Lioness Club Mirvish Corporation Mondo's Ristorante Montana's Cookhouse- Whitby Moores- Oshawa Mt.Lawn Memorial Gdns Reception Mount Pleasant Group- Oshawa Native Focus- Port Perry Nesbitt's Meat Market- Lindsay New Balance- Toronto Nutty Chocolateer- Port Perry Oak Unlimited- Bowmanville Oliver's Nest- Lindsay Olympia Restaurant- Lindsay Omemee Dist. Lioness Club Ooh La La Lingerie- Port Perry Oshawa Airport Golf Club Oshawa Whitby Honda Owaska Volkswagon- Oshawa Pamper & Soothe- Port Perry Paul Mackie Harley Davidson Paula Lishman- Blackstock Pefferlaw Antique Shoppe Perry Ann's- Port Perry Perry Cowan Insurance- Oshawa Personal Touch Gifts- Port Perry Philips Electronics- Toronto P'Lovers- Port Perry Plum Loco- Port Perry Port Perry Home Hardware Port Perry Pharmacy Purdy's Chocolates- Oshawa Railside Restaurant- Port Hope Reed's Flower Shop- Ajax Rona Cashway- Lindsay Rona Cashway- Uxbridge Rousseau's Fine Furniture- Whitby Royal Ashburn Golf Club Royal Doulton Canada Ltd.- Toronto Royal Ontario Museum Scott's Drug Mart- Oshawa Sears Belleville Sears Brockville Sears Cobourg Sears Cornwall Sears Kingston Sears Newmarket Sears Oshawa Sears Peterborough Sears Pickering Sears Home- Pinecrest Sears Home- Whitby Select Art Galleries- Newmarket Serta Canada Silverside of Dana’s- Port Perry Sopraffino Italian Cuisine- Oshawa Staples- Lindsay Ste. Anne's Spa- Cobourg Stellmar Farms- Little Britain Sugar Chalet- Oshawa Sundance Balloons- Belmont Swiss Chalet- Harmony Rd.-Oshawa Sylvestres Gift Store- Lindsay Taigh-Mor Designs- Peterborough TD Canada Trust- Port Perry Tim Hortons- Head Office Toronto Toronto Argonauts Football Club Toronto Heli-Tour- Toronto Tree of Life Canada Inc. Tribute Communities Valentino's Grande Salon- Whitby Vandermeer Nursery- Ajax Vern Glass- Oshawa Wagg Funeral Home- Port Perry Whirlpool Canada LP Whitby Oshawa Honda William David Foods Williams Chocolates- Whitby Willow Books- Port Perry Wilson Furniture- Oshawa Wimpey's Diner- Simcoe N.- Oshawa Wines Plus Ltd.- Lindsay Winners- Mississauga Wonky Wood Works- Midhurst Wooden Sticks- Uxbridge Young's Optical- Lindsay Zavida Coffee- Concord Zehrs Food Plus- Uxbridge Zeroline Racing Zinn's Bistro- Port Perry Individual Donors Lynn & Paul Arthurs- Oshawa Diane Baker- Cannington Josh Colleran- Whitby Art Deboo- Cavan Debbie Drinkwater- RNC- Oshawa Furnell- Richard- Cannington Vivianne Goodall- Alliston Ashley Gravestock Heather & Doug Griffith- Oshawa Glen Griffith Angela & Richard Hennessey John Henry- Oshawa Bill & Betty Lea- Little Britain Chris Lea- Toronto Robin Lea Young- Whitby Joyce Marshall- Whitby Beni & Shirley Masselli- Florida Penny Masters- Oshawa Joanna McDonald Janet McLLroy- Cannington Steve Moratto- Cannington Steve & Sonja Mowat- Little Britain Steve Perry- Oshawa Mary Jo Regan- Toronto Kathleen Regan-Vandermoer- Scarb Roden Rutledge- Cannington Rouge Valley Hosp. C.C. Nurses Ed & Loretta Sisung- Michigan John & Ann Strachan- Oshawa Marcella Tenaglia- Downsview Sheri Tenaglia-Grandin Georgetown Tony Willson- Ontario Motor Sales Frank Wright- Toronto

The 2006 Gala of Hope’s Pink Martini Dinner Dance Our 2006 Gala was held on Friday, October 20th at Tosca Banquet and Convention Centre in Oshawa. It was a resounding success and we were able to donate close to $35,000 to the R.S. McLaughlin Durham Regional Cancer Centre for breast cancer initiatives. This money was in addition to the $25,000 already raised last year for the Centre. Ken Shaw, CTV News Anchor was our very gracious emcee and Jim Szeman, CEO of the Oshawa Hospital Foundation assisted Heather in hosting the evening’s festivities which included a wonderful four course meal, live entertainment and Live and Silent Auctions.
The entertainment segment of the evening was very much a family affair, with Heather’s father, internationally recognized musician Bill Lea providing pre dinner music with his sextet and Robin Lea Young, Co-Founder of the Gala of Hope and also a well known big band singer, entertaining with a few songs as well. During the meal, impressionist Glen Griffith performed as Dr. Phil and Rodney Dangerfield.
Adjacent to the dining room was a huge white tent to hold a Pink Martini bar, an Oxygen Bar and a wide array of auction items. We were very pleased that the donors of these prizes came from merchants, service clubs and community members from Durham, City of Kawartha Lakes, Haliburton and the Northumberland Regions, making it a community effort. Among the larger items and cash donations were from the Blue Heron Casino, Air Canada, Esso Imperial Oil, Fairmont Royal York, Mondo’s Ristorante, Serta Canada, Sears Canada, and Deerhurst Resort, and Durham Regional Police, just to name a few.
During the evening Heather was presented with a $1,000 cheque from the Lindsay Lions Club and a cheque for $3,916 from Mark Lathangue and the Oshawa Airport Golf Club, which held the first annual “Swing For A Cure” in October to benefit breast cancer patients at the Cancer Centre. Mark is currently Director of Operations at the Newcastle Golf and Country Club and is planning a tournament there as well this year, in addition to launching a campaign to make the Swing For A Cure tournament an annual fundraiser at many golf courses across the region.

The following is a replica of the newspaper ad that went into the Oshawa This Week
The Gala of Hope which was held on October 15, 2004 at the St. George-s Ukrainian Hall in Oshawa, raised over $17,000 in support of the Ontario Chapter of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Guests were treated to the sounds of the William Lea Quintet, with vocals from Robin Lea, Bill Lea, Shirley Harmer, and comedy from Beni Mason. The event was hosted by Heather Griffith - a one year survivor of breast cancer, Robin Lea-Young, and committee members Bill and Betty Lea, Debra Vaillancourt, Darlene Griffith, Kim Gilmour and Beryl Woodcock - a 2 year survivor of breast cancer. The Gala committee would like to thank the St. George-s Ukrainian Hall for providing a wonderful meal and allowing them to use their beautiful facility. A special thanks to the main sponsors, Sears Canada, Real Simple Magazine, Reader-s Digest, Blistex Canada, Clinique Canada and Aramis Canada for their generous donations. They would also like to express their gratitude to the individuals and businesses listed below, who also donated items to help make this evening such a success. A&P - THICKSON RD N, A&P FIVE POINTS MALL, ABC NEWS NEW YORK-JESSICA STARK, ALDSWORTH CAMERAS, ANTHONY BERTRAM, AUREUS CA, AVAYA CA, MR AND MRS BOWEN, BELLEVILLE SEARS HOME STORE, MR AND MRS BENI MASSELLI, BETTY LEA, BILL LEA, BOB GRIFFITH, BODY SHOPPE - OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE, BOWRINGS, MR AND MRS BRENT LAVICTOIRE, THE GATE HOUSE HAIR SALON, CALVIN KLEIN CA, CDN TIRE WHITBY, CDN TIRE GIBB ST, CANCORE BLDG SERVICES, CAREER HAIR SCHOOL, CHATELAINE MAGAZINE, CHRISTINE&S OPTICAL, CLARINS FRAGRANCES CA, CLINIQUE QUE, CRYSTAL ANDRUS PRODUCTIONS, DARCIE TRIPP, DARLENE GRIFFITH, DAVIS HENDERSON, MR AND MRS BOLTON, DIANE BAKER,DYNAMITE DOLLARS - ROSSLAND/STEVENSON, EDULINX, EL STAVROS RESTAURANT, MR AMD MRS BEAUCHEMIN, ELIZABETH ARDEN CA, ESTEE LAUDER CA, EVERGREEN FLORIST, FACES-OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE, FIELD INSTORE MRKTG SEARS CA, FORBIDDEN TREASURES, FOSSIL CA, GENERAL MOTORS CA, GANONG, GAYE PECK, GIVENCHY CA, MR AND MRS GLEN GRIFFITH, GLEN SHINGLER, ONTARIO PARKS, GREAT BLUE HERON CASINO, GWEN SUMMERS, HEATHER WATSON, HOME DEPOT, IMAGES SALON & SCARBOROUGH, INSTRIDE MAGAZINE, JACKIE BARLOW, MR AND MRS CRAIG FINLAYSON, JENNIFER LEGREE, JOANNA MCDONALD, MR AND MRS JOHN STRACHAN, KERNELS POPCORN & OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE, KERNALS POPCORN CA, MR AND MRS RANDY GILMOUR, KREBS RESTAURANT, LABELLE-S HAIR SALON, LANCOME CA, LES DANIELS, LESCRATCH POOL HALL, LIGHTING PLUS, CHOOSE HOPE USA, DELTA HOTELS -SCARBOROUGH, LOBLAWS 411 GIBB ST, LONG AND MCQUADE, LOREAL CA, THE FLOOR FASHION CENTRE, LOVELL DRUGS ROSSLAND RD, MACKENZIE MANOR RESTAURANT, MAPLES OF BALLANTRAE GOLF COURSE, MARCIA FINLAYSON, MEG BROWN, METROLAND DURHAM REGION MEDIA GROUP, MR AND MRS RANDY FLYNN, MILLWORK, SWISS CHALET, MR AND MRS RICK HARMER, NATIONAL BALLET OF CANADA, NICOLE GRIFFITH, NORMARK, NUBALANCE, ONTARIO MOTOR SALES, OSHAWA CRUISE SHIP CENTRES, OSHAWA LITTLE THEATRE, PAT LENECK, PEARSON LANES HAIR SALON & WHITBY, PROACTIVE STEEL, PUIG CA, QUADRANT CA, RIVIERA FRAGRANCES CA, MR AND MRS JAY YOUNG, ROGERS CABLE, ROYAL ASHBURN GOLF COURSE, SANDY HARMER, SCOTTS DRUG MART, SEARS BELLEVILLE, SEARS BROCKVILLE, SEARS CANADA TRAVEL, SEARS CARLINGWOOD, SEARS COBOURG, SEARS CORNWALL, SEARS FAIRVIEW, SEARS KINGSTON, SEARS MARKVILLE, SEARS NEWMARKET, SEARS OSHAWA, SEARS PICKERING, SEARS RIDEAU CENTRE, SEARS SCARBOROUGH, SEARS ST.LAURENT, THE CDN. BREAST CANCER FOUNDATION, SHRIMP COCKTAIL RESTAURANT, SONY CANADA, SOUTHPORT EXECUTIVE SERVICE, SPRINT CANADA, ST. GEORGES UKRAINIAN HALL, STELLMAR FARMS, STEVE PERRY, STEVE SHAUGHNESSY, SUE RIGBY,THE GIFT HOUSE, THE HUDSON-S BAY CO. & OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE., THE KEG RESTAURANT, TOD FINLAYSON, TRADE SECRETS & OSHAWA SHOPPING CENTRE, UCANFUNDRAISING, VERN GLASS, WALTZING WEASEL, WAYNE ST.JOHN, WENDY ARCHIBALD, WHITBY BODY BOOMERS, WILL-S WOODWORKING, WINES PLUS LTD-BRIAN RODMAN,WOODEN FANCIES, WRAPSODY GIFTS-PERRY MECHANICAL INC.,YSL CANADA
LUNCHEON OF HOPE Three of our guests were so inspired by the evening, that they held the "Luncheon of Hope$#34; on Thursday October 28, 2004 at the Sears Oshawa Retail Store, to help raise additional funds for this cause. Thank you to the associates of Sears Oshawa who contributed an additional $845.00 to the Gala of Hope. A cheque for $17,845.00 will be delivered to Sherry Lamb, Ontario Special Events Manager, of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation on November 11, 2004.