Fundraising for a cool residential initiative

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 23/10/2017 (3198 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

In recent years the internet has featured many stories about Hogewey, a unique residential “home” near Amsterdam for people with Alzheimer’s disease and/or other forms of dementia. It’s secured but built like a tiny village, with little streets, benches, shops, gardens and trees. Nurses and residents dress in street clothes, people get to know each other like neighbours, feel much happier and are less stressed. A building with some similarities to Hogewey is going up at Riverview Health Centre and its fundraising foundation is on full-tilt boogie tomorrow, holding its annual fundraising gala at the RBC Convention Centre Winnipeg. What a party they have in store! Beau and Mark from BOB FM will be the emcees and well-known comedian Dean Jenkinson is entertaining. One of the live-auction prizes is a three-day guided fishing trip to Aikens Lake Wilderness Lodge with former Winnipeg Blue Bomber Chris Walby. The prize is called “Slaughter the Water with Big Bluto” (that’s Walby — very tall, and tipping the scales at 300 pounds). The prize winner and a friend are promised a “lifetime opportunity to drink, laugh and maybe even fish.” To double the trouble, Walby is bringing his fishing and party pal Stan Mikawos, who retired from the Bombers the same year, in 1997. Yours truly caught them “practising” for the trip under the giant swordfish in lawyer Bob Sokalski’s outdoor party room last week.

This year, Sokalski will present the foundation’s annual Friends of Riverview Award to members of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers Alumni who have supported the foundation’s annual “Cycle on Life” fundraiser. Bomber Alumni set to attend the event include Walby, Bob Cameron, Gene Lakusiak, Ron LaTourelle, Kevin Neiles, Jon Oosterhuis, Willard Reaves, Glen Schapansky, Glen Scrivener, Bob Toogood and Jayson Dzikowicz, who will also be the auctioneer for the evening.

THEY DANCE, THEN YOU DANCE! Dancers will soon be flooding Osborne Village from eastern Canada, the U.S., France and Africa, says NAfro Dance artistic director Casimiro Nhussi. They’re flying in for a three-night dance festival Nov. 2-4 called Moving Inspiration — and it’s interactive. Here’s the deal: You come to the Gas Station Arts Centre in Osborne Village, for an 8 p.m. start and every night you see one famous dance group right after another — no repeat showcases. Each night of multiple performances is only $30 cash at the door.

After the professional dancers are finished — a combo chosen from flamenco, ballet, African contemporary and jazz, and contemporary Indian — it’s your turn. The crowd is then invited to troop down Osborne to Jekyll and Hyde’s each night for the big after-party, starting at 10:30 p.m., with live music by the NAfro dance band with Nhussi and his many players, as well as Papa Mambo. There’s lots of original fun to be had in this city!

FIVE HEROES: In a difficult world, the Our Manitoba Heroes dinner is truly a heart-warmer. It happens Oct. 28 at Club Regent Casino Event Centre. This year’s five nominated heroes are James Favel, Tracie Léost, Wendy MacDonald, Hannah Taylor and Roland Vandal. Favel is a co-founder of the volunteer street safety patrol Bear Clan, caring residents who patrol inner-city streets. Léost, out of concern for missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, ran 115 kilometres in four days to raise $6,000 for the Families First Foundation. MacDonald co-founded Urban Stable, a horse-care and riding program for youth facing life challenges. As a child, Taylor established the Ladybug Foundation to help the homeless — it has since raised millions of dollars for homeless causes — and has started a high-school program called makeChange: The Ladybug Foundation Education Program, a multimedia resource for teachers to help empower young people to get involved in their communities. She recently received a 2017 Muhammad Ali Six Core Principle Award from the Muhammad Ali Center in Louisville, Ky. Vandal, who suffered abuse as a child which led to self-destructive lifestyle of drug and alcohol addiction, turned his life around and is now one of the top motivational speakers in Canada. For more information or tickets, visit ourmanitobaheroes.ca/events/gala-dinner or call 204-299-2927 and ask for chairman Paul Bennett.

YOU CAN’T SEE MY SCARS: Winnipegger Darren Cosentino enjoyed life and travel even while undergoing serious cancer treatments, mainly at Grace Hospital. He died May 31, 2016, but left us with the inspiring book, You Can’t See My Scars: A Story of Thriving During The Impossible and Living Life to the Fullest. Just released, his work comes with a foreword by former Manitoba premier Gary Filmon, who lost his own daughter Allison to melanoma, and is edited by former Free Press reporter Geoff Kirbyson. The story is a shot in the arm for anybody inspired by courage and a “just watch me!” mentality. After being diagnosed with stage-four colon cancer in his mid-30s, Cosentino thumbed his nose at the short predictions on his life expectancy, and lived another 61/2 years. He had met the love of his life, Sara Cosentino, at 15, married her, and the two were passionately in love — with each other and adventure — and kept on having fun and life adventures, even during cancer treatments.

Yours truly attended a private book launch for about 50, hosted in the large living room of Bison Transport president and CEO Rob Penner, headed up by Sara and involving friends and family. There was a contingent of nurses from Grace Hospital and workmates from Bison Transport where Dan worked in sales. Sara read a few highlights which had people reaching for tissues, but the book truly is an uplifting read. You Can’t See My Scars, to which Sara contributed, is available at McNally Robinson Booksellers.

PUMPKIN FITNESS: Ever worked out with a pumpkin? Now’s your chance. Fukumoto Fitness, located at 50 Burnett Ave., is hosting its eighth annual Pumpkin Charity Workout For Mental Health on Oct. 28 at 9 a.m. All are welcome to check the Halloween-themed workout — in costume! It’s a strange and unique fitness workout, complete with pumpkins as exercise props. The event is being held in support of the Anxiety Disorders Association of Manitoba. It’s only $15 a ticket and they throw in more for every newcomer. Register at fukumotofitness.com.

HOT TIP! On Nov. 3 at 4:30 p.m. there’s a flash mob happening at Grant Park Shopping Centre in the hall next to the snazzy new Winners store. It’s being organized by popular dance instructor Claudia Chernitsky and here’s a hot tip: look for people with pink details in the crowd such as a glove, glasses or a bow. Chernitsky, who’s known for the wild and crazy music in her classes, is doing this as a fundraiser for the CancerCare Manitoba Foundation, so they’ll be passing the hat for donations.

Got tips? Fun events happening in your world? Been rubbing shoulders with the stars? Email Maureen’s Tips at mscurf@shaw.ca or lovecoach@hotmail.com.