Guests were greeted with Mardi Gras beads to get them in the mood. They then made their way to mingle in the lobby area or enjoy any of the three musical stages, while being photographed by Paul Wright of Shooter 4 Hire. Festively decorated cooking stations provided by Pepperwood Catering and Special Events graced the RBG’s foyer serving delicious New Orleans inspired food and drink.

An interesting silent auction table gave guests a chance to bid on more than 70 items. During the evening a Treasure Box raffle was held and the lucky winner was Maureen Tilson-Dyment from Cogeco. Later, an exciting seven-item live auction was presented by our lively auctioneer David Smith. The Master of Ceremonies, PAB’s President Deb Tymstra, led guests through the evening’s program with style and grace. There was a brief formal ceremony to thank all of our wonderful corporate partners, including a special welcome and thank you to our newest corporate partner, Carriage Gate Homes, our “residence” sponsor.

An exciting announcement was made that effective April 1 PAB will have a new home at 2114 Lakeshore Road thanks to the generosity of Carriage Gate Homes. In addition, a $64,000 cheque was presented from PAB to Mayor Cam Jackson, our contribution through different PAB fundraising activities to the Performing Arts Centre capital campaign.

A special note of thanks goes out to all the PAB volunteers and staff, members of the fundraising committee led by Bill Leslie and Stephen Bell, Catherine Young and the staff of Pepperwood Catering and Special Events, Sue Fillion and the staff of the Royal Botanical Gardens and Christine Kempe, our silent auction coordinator, who all worked so hard to make the evening a huge success.The money raised from the event will go a long way towards PAB achieving its goals, including our vision to be a driving force for a growing and dynamic arts community in Burlington. Thanks to everyone who attended and contributed to the evening.