Event of the Year

Event of the Year

Vancouver Leacock Luncheon
Angela Arkell, BA'67 Chair

It was the second time around for the Leacock Luncheon in Vancouver and it seems they have a smash hit on their hands. McGill Chancellor and Olympic Executive Committee member Dick Pound, BCom'62, BCL'67, was the guest lecturer who tickled McGill westerners' funny bones, and there were over 300 of them to tickle. The purely volunteer-run event is sure to become a Vancouver tradition, and much of the thanks goes to Angela Arkell, Chair of the Luncheon. Angela's dedication as an organizer is absolute and she has committed an extraordinary amount of time and effort to ensuring that the Luncheon is the hilarious success it is. From arranging the venue to selling the tables to organizing the head table and booking the key players ? the Leacock Lecturer, plus the master of ceremonies extraordinaire and McGill Vice-Principal (Small Change), Derek Drummond, no slouch to schtick himself -- Angela does it all.

A most deserving event and organizer.

Garden Party

Joint winner of Event of the Year was the New Brunswick branch's June Garden Party in Fredericton, attended by alumni from all over the region. Organizers Elizabeth Rossinger and Gina Wilkins went out of their way to capture local flavour, providing food and drink from New Brunswick like blueberry wine, Sussex ginger ale and smoked salmon. The setting was Elizabeth's beautiful, spacious garden, complete with babbling brook and a tent in McGill red and white.

Branch president Gina Wilkins has spent all her working life at universities and recalls her first job at Dalhousie in Halifax, in the serials section of the Kellogg Library. "Imagine the fun I had answering the phone 'Good morning, Kellogg Serials.'"

Her obvious knack for communications soon earned her a job in Dalhousie's Public Relations Office and it's in this field that her energy, creative talent and sense of humour have flourished ever since. She is now Director of Community Relations at University of New Brunswick in Saint John. Gina says this award "belongs almost entirely to Elizabeth Rossinger," a native of Fredericton who has returned home after a career in social work in Quebec. Elizabeth honed her volunteer skills by serving on the Alumni Committee of the McGill School of Social Work for more than two decades, and is proud to be part of a McGill tradition -- among the members of her extended family she counts 14 graduates.