"We're going to have a dinner"

It's funny, you would think that after 30 years in sales, making pitches to individuals and groups, I would be comfortable in front of a crowd.
Not....
On May 24, 2018  the Saint John Chapter of Parkinson's Canada held it's Annual Fundraiser Dinner.
I have no idea if our little dinner is on the grand scale, small scale, or somewhere in between.

This is where they flash the " 4 Years ago " on the bottom of the TV screen.

This is a small town city. If you ever attend the "in" events, Board of Trade, Hospital Fundraisers , Y's Men Club etc. you see basically the same people. I was never one of them. Early on in my company's life, while I knew who these people were, they were just another client to me.
I wasn't asked to the events. If there was an event I had wanted to attend most likely it was sold out.
I never really tried to fit in. I was always just Randy the copier/phone guy. Through my connection with the Family Resource Centre I was able to attend a BCAPI (Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiative) event. The one name that kept coming up was Bill Gale, as he was the main driving force behind this organization.
 
When I was introduced to the existing board of the local Chapter, one of the names that stood out was Bill Gale. Bill also attended the support groups. One day in a voice you could barely hear Bill said to me "we are going to have a dinner." So I guess we have a dinner. Doing something for the first time is exciting, and satisfying.  I went to the membership and asked for volunteers. With Bill's help we managed to sell about 120 tickets. With Jean Driscoll's help we got a lot of Silent Auction items.
That first year we raised over $13,000. All that money went to the local. The second year we raised just over $9,000, but we were competing against the East Coast Music Awards that night.

This year we actually had guests, but did I acknowledge them??  NO!
Did I ask for them to say something?? NO!
I carefully wrote out a script of what to say. Threw it out the window.
I must say, third time around I actually had time to enjoy it.
Cheryl and Dori worked the front table.
Jean's daughters sold 50/50 tickets.
I just wondered about, thanking people.

There is always so much negativity involved with Parkinson's. It is really uplifting to be a part of something positive.  To see people having a good time, supporting a good cause.  Maybe next year I will look at getting an experienced emcee, and speaker.

This blog has a tendency to be a lot of woe is me, mainly because I remember the bad stuff. What is not said enough is the fact that most days are great, that most days just go by. The same for everyone else.

As to the total amount raised this year,  $12,500.
To everyone who helped in this endeavor,
THANK YOU!
To everyone who donated,
THANK YOU!

 And remember

IT'S ONLY INCONVENIENT