Eighty-four Comox Valley residents enjoyed a spectacular evening on August 16th, at the Tee Box restaurant in Comox. The Mack Laing Heritage Society held its first fundraising dinner and auction raising in excess of $10,000.
“We had sold out one week before the event and could have sold 20 more tickets if we’d had the space,” notes Frieda Home of the Society. She and Paul Horgen organized the event.
The evening featured a gourmet meal by Tee Box owner and Chef Adrian. Prior to the dinner and auction, guests sampled cheese donated by Natural Pastures and wine donated by Forty Knots winery.
The audience enjoyed literary readings by Area Director Jim Gillis (from Mack Laing’s unpublished manuscript “Baybrook: Life’s Best Adventure”. Steve Hill, a local playwright, gave a tribute to 2013 Nobel Prize winner in Literature Alice Munro, who spent two years writing in residence at Baybrook. Comox Valley historian and author Richard Mackey read excerpts from his biography, “Hamilton Mack Laing, Hunter and Naturalist”. loys Maingon, President of Comox Valley Nature, told the audience about plans for Baybrook, including renovation and use of the building and site for a nature pre-school, an intrepretive centre and a hub for conservation tourism.
Master of Ceremonies for the evening, auctioneer Jean Rowe, encouraged the audience to bid on over 70 items. Included was a numbered print donated by Robert Bateman, which sold for $850. There were also two special prints by Alan Brooks, a contemporary and colleague of Laing, and one of the four “Birdmen” of the Comox Valley. The prints were donated by Betty Brooks, his daughter-in-law. Several books autographed by the authors were also sold in the auction, including an autographed book by Alice Munro. A number of other local authors donated books to the auction and were present at the event. Many valley merchants and individuals also donated certificates, gift baskets and other interesting items. The water colour painting of Baybrook, by Ruth Dickson, the featured artist of the evening, will be used to produce limited edition prints for sale in the future.
“We want to thank all those who contributed items for auction and to all those who opened their pocketbooks and bought the items,” said Kate Panayatof, President of the Society.
Prior to and during the evening, 11 individuals made special pledges of $10-$1,000, raising an additional $2990.
The Society will make a presentation to Comox Council on Wednesday, August 20 at 5 pm. It will propose a strategy for the use and funding of renovations for Baybrook, which will not put any financial burden on the Town of Comox.
For more information on the Society or to become a member, please explore this website.
-30-
Leave a Reply