World Team Fund Raising Party: who won???

The Canadian Paragliding World Team fundraising party was held in Calgary on January 18, 2007. About 125 pilots and friends attended Schanks Athetlic Club for a night of partying, catching up with friends, and to support the PG Team (Keith MacCullough, Will Gadd, and Nicole McLearn).

During the evening we sold many 50/50 tickets in addition to the approximately 3000 tickets already sold to that point; people bought tickets in amounts ranging from $5 up to $500. By the time the actual draw came up, we had sold $6600 worth, which meant the winner was due to get $3300!

But before the actual draw, we had an awesome slide show by Will Gadd, where he showcased his recent and more famous flying and ice climbing escapades. Amongst them were his paramotor flight across the USA and his iceberg climbing adventure in eastern Canada. The slide show was well received, and everyone had a great time watching and laughing.

Then it was time for the big draw. Given that we had 6600 tickets to draw from, it necessitated a very large container to hold all the tickets (one of those large 15L laundry detergent buckets)! Vincene Muller was chosen to draw the actual ticket. The winning ticket was drawn and the number read out, and the winner was Jackie Aesie, an Albertan pilot! Since Jackie was actually present at the party, we were able to award her the money (cash!) on the spot.

So Jackie won $3300, and the other $3300 is going towards the PG World Team. In addition to the 50/50 money, many people also donated money 100% for the PG World Team, which amounted to a further $875. So with this one event the PG Team raised a total of $4175 to help pay for the costs of the World Championships!

In addition to the 50/50 and 100% donations, there were several large private donations to the PG Team. Columbia View Homes (http://www.columbiaviewhomes.com/), owned by John McIsaac and Cathy-Anne David (who also run the Golden Eco Adventure Ranch and LZ), donated $1950 to the PG Team to help pay for the steep entry fee to the World Championships. The Alberta Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association will donate $600 to the PG Team to help defray costs as well. From the PG World Team, many thanks and appreciation!

There are several other people we’d like to thank as well. Amir Izadi, despite not getting on the PG Team due to the FAI team size restrictions (he was next in line for a team spot if one became available), generously agreed to sell 50/50 tickets on Vancouver Island, and sold over $500 worth of tickets. Dave Larocque, a Calgary pilot, also sold 50/50 tickets on behalf of the PG Team and sold approximately $900 worth of tickets! Thanks so much to both for helping out!

Thanks also to Vincene Muller for promoting the fund raising party, Will Gadd for agreeing to do a slide show (for free!), and Schanks Athletic Club for allowing us to use their venue for the party.

And of course we'd especially like to thank YOU, the pilots that really made this happen by buying 50/50 tickets and supporting the PG Team. Without you this wouldn't have happened!

We depart in a few weeks for Oz…once we’re down there we’ll be blogging our stories so everyone knows what is going on Down Under. Stay tuned!