Canadian Helen Keller Centre Awards
March 5, 2013 by deblewis
Filed under Ontario, Past Events, Toronto
Every year, in conjunction with the Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled Persons, CHKC holds the Annual CHKC Awards Luncheon to honour individuals who have made outstanding achievements and contributions to the disability of deaf-blindness, and to raise much needed funds to operate the centre.
Ninth Annual Awards Luncheon
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Concert Hall
Honouring :
Premiere Kathleen Wynne
11:45 am – Reception
12 noon – Lunch
Award Winner
Canadian National Institute for the Blind
His Excellency the Right Honourable
David L. Johnston
C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D.
Governor General of CanadaThe Honourable David C. Onley
Lieutenant Governor of Ontario
The Honourable Henry N. R. Jackman
The Honourable Con DiNino
Sriram Iyer
Larry Corke
The Honourable Vim Kochhar
The 29th Great Valentine Gala
March 5, 2013 by deblewis
Filed under Past Events, Toronto, Uncategorized
CFPDP’s No. 1 Fundraising Event
What a great success!
The 29th Great Valentine Gala was a fantastic event hosted
by The Canadian Foundation for Physically Disabled People. The event commemorated the 29 years of CFPDP’s efforts to raise funds and awareness to benefit physically disabled persons.
On February 9th 2013, over 500 people gathered together at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel to support physically disabled Canadians through a special evening of amazing food, wine, a special tribute and live performances by Randy Bachman, Adrien Breda, and artist Elaine Stewart.
The reception was a great start to the event! At 6:00pm guests gathered together as they enjoyed the sounds of talented Adrien Breda playing on a live piano, excellent beverages, a TELUS photo-booth and a fantastic artist painting live.
Master of Ceremony, Suhana Meharchand was excellent! Excitement filled the room as the Honourable Vim Kochhar welcomed everyone to the event. The excitement in the room grew as the Tombola Balloons were dispersed and bought for $60 with prizes ranging from $60-$3000. The Tombola Balloons are such a great addition to the event!
While dinner ended the awards began! The prestigious King Clancy Awards were presented to each athlete on stage to recognize their outstanding achievements in the disabled community.
During the King Clancy awards, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, Honourable David Onley and Vim Kochhar stood on stage congratulating each paralympic medal winner as they accepted their award.
TELUS and Cineplex were the grand recipients of the esteemed Corporate Awards. John Lutz and Honourable Vum Kochhar welcomed Joe Goodbaum, President of TELUS retail and Ellis Jacob President and Chief Executive Officer at Cineplex to accept their awards on stage.
“The Gala is a celebration of things that really matter- things like character, compassion and community.” – Kochhar.
As the awards ended the night continued as guests enjoyed the live performance of the talented Randy Bachman. Randy Bachman did a fantastic job!
As the night came to an end, guests retrieved their tombola prizes while others danced until the very last minutes of the event.
What a great night! Looking forward to The 30th Great Valentine Gala!
For more information visit
For more pictures
Interior Design Show (IDS)
March 5, 2013 by deblewis
Filed under Ontario, Past Events, Toronto

The interior Design Show (IDS) gave you the total design experience! The amazing showcase of interior design began in 1998 and since then around 660,000 design professionals, consumers and media have attended this awesome event. This show featured architects and designers from across the globe and allowed them to share their knowledge about design through the keynote speaker program.
This year’s event featured speakers including Jerszy Seymour, Jürgen Mayer H., Philippe Malouin, Christiane Lemieux, Douglas Coupland, John Gidding, Lynda Reeves & Bonnie Brooks, Mark Challen & Brian Gluckstein, Suzanne Dimma & Tommy Smythe. Among the attractions at this years show were Design Icons presented by KIA., Studio North, Limited Edition & Prototype presented by NATIONAL BANK and supported by PDLab and Metropolis Magazine., Modern Kid, Balloon entrance installation created by Willy Chyr, and Designboom.

The opening night party of IDS was the biggest design party of the year! With live entertainment, local food and drink, and a preview at what was to come at the Interior Design Show. As part of the 2nd annual auction, attendees had the opportunity to bid on one of 20 Real Good Chairs by Blu Dot with proceeds going to ONEXONE charity. Each chair featured a different design created by a designer, artist, fashion designer, or illustrator.
IDC showcased new and innovative international and Canadian designs, great exhibits, amazing keynote speakers, and so much more. There was so much to offer at this year’s event, there is no doubt that it was an amazing show!
For more information on The Interior Design Show visit: http://www.interiordesignshow.
Daniels Spectrum – Artscape and Regent Parks New Event Venue and Platform for Culture Exchange & Collaboration
February 14, 2013 by deblewis
Filed under Event Venues, Toronto, Uncategorized
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Toronto’s Downtown East neighbourhood has a new arts and cultural centre! Daniels Spectrum, located at 585 Dundas Street East is Toronto’s new cultural hub. This centre is the home for many local community programs including: COBA Collective of Black Artists, Native Earth Performing Arts, Regent Park School of Music, Regent Park Film Festival, ArtHeart Community Art Centre, Pathways to Education, and Centre for Social Innovation.
Daniels Spectrum is designed to encourage creativity, showcase artistic talent, and support workshops for social and cultural innovation. The centre is filled with colour from the outside exterior to the inside, with inspiring art amongst the walls of the hallways and rooms. The 6,000-square-foot ADA SLAIGHT HALL, fully equipped with video projection, sound system, lighting grid, retractable seating and stage provides an affordable space, great for hosting a community or non-profit event.
The MDC PARTNERS COURTYARD is a 4,000-square-foot outdoor space, perfect for outdoor performances and gatherings. Among the two larger spaces are additional spaces perfect for smaller performances, workshops, community meetings, receptions, and art exhibitions.
Daniels Spectrum is a great addition to Toronto’s Downtown East neighbourhood. A terrific community centre and venue space! For more information on Daniels Spectrum visit:
http://regentparkarts.ca/
2nd Floor, Toronto’s Newest King West Event Venue
February 12, 2013 by deblewis
Filed under Event Venues, Toronto, Uncategorized
2nd Floor , located at 461 King St. W is the city’s newest event venue.
The 3,000 square foot space offers an open concept, clean industrial feel including exposed brick walls, large bright windows, a 36 foot bar with custom light boxes, 12 and a half foot high ceilings and hardwood floors.
This venue was designed by MSDS Studio, the same team who designed SPiN Toronto.
The space includes full bar and snack area. In the specially designed and elevated DJ booth they have high-quality furniture and all A/V equipment needed for a DJ. It is great when planning an event as the venue is already wired for sound, video etc
Plan a private event there! You can use this venue for weddings, social events, parties, launches, concerts, previews, film and photo shoots, runway shows and more. The venue can hold up to 160 people for seating and 215 people for standing events. The venue can be transformed to suit any occasion and style, making it the perfect space for hosting and customizing events. We were happy with the great sightlines and blank canvass the venue has to either keep as is or dress up.
2nd Floor has great catering from executive chef Jon Lovett, offering a seasonally sourced menu. All dishes are crafted with locally grown ingredients from a variety of regional suppliers.
For the launch of 2nd Floor, the owners had donated the space to the Toronto Transit Alliance for a transit symposium on Tuesday, January 22. The symposium included a transit discussion and debate moderated by former mayoral candidate Sarah Thomson with panelists including TTC CEO Andy Byford, former Toronto chief city planner Paul Bedford and community activist Desmond Cole.
For 2nd Floor rental inquiries, please contact Jessica Dexter at: info@2ndfloorevents.com or 416.263.0122.











