VISION VANCOUVER fundraiser for Raymond Louie & George Chow

This was billed as a fun event, and I got to sit with friend David Wong, and my cousin Hayne Wai.  I also got to see lots of friends and aquaintances in the community.  Perfect for networking! (and also to scout Floata out for the next Gung Haggis Fat Choy Dinner planned for January 22nd, 2006)

It was a typical 12 course dinner affair with speeches, music and entertainement and more speeches.  Lots of Chinatown associations were there in attendance.  I greeted my Uncle Dan, and his friends at the Chinese war veterans table.  I saw Bong, a waiter from the old Marco Polo restaurant - he was very happy that I recognized him and insisted I say hello to my father.

I greeted Councillor Jim Green and gave him a brief update on the Kogawa House situation.  He warmly introduced me to candidate Heather Harrison, and his wife Roberta.  I also talked with Raymond Louie's wife Tonya.  I really like Tonya, she is one of the best raffle ticket selling partners I have ever had.  We first met when she was on the board of the Vancouver Asian Heritage Month Society in 2002.

Charlie Wu of the Taiwanese Canadian Cultural Society was there, and I greeted other members of the TCCS, that I knew.  Charlie was instrumental in helping to create the Vancouver International Taiwanese Dragon Boat Races.  Raymond also played a big role in helping the boats be donated to Vancouver.

Nice short chats with Raymond and George Chow.  They both thanked me for donating some prizes.  For some reason, George had asked me to donate some haggis.  I think it was because 50% of the attendees were caucasian.  But in the end, I think the two wee haggi will find a home for Jenny Kwan's Scotch tasting party next month.

I managed to have a copy of CHOW donated for a raffle prize.  This generated some intrest, as they announced the Vancouver Museum book launch for Oct 25th.

Finally... raffle and door prizes given out.  My cousin Hayne Wai, won box seats for a Canucks hockey game (Hmmm....  Where can we get some for fundraiser prizes?)

Oh, the food and music? The Lion Dance is noisy - I don't think I'll have that for GHFC.  But I really liked the crab maw soup, and the taro/duck dish.