As with previous years, the annual Frank Flaman Foundation Fundraising Dinner and Silent Auction was once again a great success for local and global charities alike with a fantastic night of merry-making with a purpose.

As guests descended the escalator to meeting level of the Shaw Conference Centre their ears got a sense of things to come attention. A five member greeted the guests as they walked down a long hallway flanked with display tables designed to raise awareness of the 14 charities being honoured. These charities included the Alberta Diabetes Foundation, Change for Children, Crystal Kids, E4C – School Lunch Programs, Global Neighbours Canada, The Kidney Foundation, Kids Kottage, Leprosy Mission, Lurana Shelter, Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), Operation Eyesight, Room to Read, Youth Emergency Shelter Society (YESS), Oxfam and The Salvation Army. At the end of the hallway, there was a reception area where guests could register, make donations, or buy raffle tickets.

On the hallway paralleling the dining room, there were couple groups of colorful balloons next to high, round cocktail tables draped  with black tablecloth and embellished with scattered diamonds,  tea lights, and a floating candle in a glass vase. At the end of this hallway, melodies flowed forth from a baby grand piano played by Angela from Ivory Elegance. Also in sharing this area were Peter and Megan from Studios Photography who were taking posed group shots and print off mementos for the guests.

The expansive ballroom was divided into four distinct areas consisting of the stage and live auction area, silent auction area, dining room,  and dance floor.  On either side of the podium on stage, the large video screens provided by Axe Music ensured that everyone had a great view. And in the gift area, the wine tree was the most distinctive item made up of $2500 dollar worth wines from around the world laid in a tree shape. Also part of the eight auction items were exercise equipment, an Oilers experience, barbeque and garden furniture, and a trip to Las Vegas. The silent auction area saw hundreds of items gathered from generous donator.  They were varied from toys to kitchen kits, wine to artwork, table lamps to keepsakes from other countries.

Looking to the dining room, all the red balloons were very eye-catching as were the the special bow ties on the back of each chair. These were actually scarfs intended as take away gifts for every guest with each table having ten scarves of different colours. The balloons were part of a raffle where 20 dollars per balloon gave you a chance at a winning a travel voucher for two if your lucky balloon happened to contain the word “commitment” on a piece of paper inside.

Comedian and auctioneer extraordinaire, Danny Hooper, was the MC for the evening and kept everyone entertained and in good spirits. Following some inspirational words from Rocky Amson, Frank Flaman introduced a touching video presentation of Flaman’s charity work, and thanked all of the sponsors and donors for making the evening a success. After a delicious table service dinner, the silent and live auctions took place, after which the DJ kicked off more fun.

Adding to the fun of the evening was our very own Flashworks Photobooth. Some guests even commented that they hoped we’d be back again this year as they had so much fun the year before. Needless to say, much fun was had and everyone quite enjoyed donning our crazy and comical accessories.

Congratulations to the Frank Flaman Foundation on another amazing fundraising gala! Thanks for inviting us to be a part of it.

To view the online gallery, CLICK HERE.