Cutler and dream team excel at RVH gala fundraiser

From the live entertainment of Lorranine Klassen, Montreal’s Queen of Jazz and South African Funk, to the eclectic silent auction that raised $25,000 to the chic raffle for a $5000 Polar Bear Diamond pendant, to the eloquent honourary chair Bob Gainey, to the fun emcee Andrew Carter, to the classy photos of guests as they arrived, to the gourmet cocktail style gastronomic delights to the ongoing flow of blue martinis, Cutler demonstrated once again she does know how to host a great party. Proceeds of this years event went to the the Alzheimers and Memory Disorders clinic of the Royal Victoria Hospital to improve patient and family care.



Avenue Art expands to Old Montreal



Due to the need to expand her vernissage space Marina Cutler, president of Avenue Art, until recently located on Sherbrooke Street West moved this month to a multimedia center in Old Montreal. Merging with two familiar names in the Montreal art community, Paul Rupert and Imagetech Offset, they have created a new and exciting creative destination at Studio10 King. While maintaining it's stable of established and emerging Canadian artists, Avenue Art will now feature a Raul Rupert Gallery. The new space will also include a photography section and the Brulerie St.Denis café. The studio is located at 10 King St. just above de la Commune in Old Montreal. For more information phone 514 867-3745 or go to www.avenueart.ca">www.avenueart.ca">www.avenueart.ca



Valentine tea at Manoir



It was standing-room-only at the Manoir Westmounts’s annual Valentine Tea last Wednesday afternoon. In addition to a delightful tea that included a decadent Valentine dessert, residents enjoyed a medley of romantic songs performed by the Manoir Choir. The choir meets weekly to develop a repertoire and to have fun.





BPW International Night focuses on literacy in children



There are an estimated 110 million children around the world, of which 60 million are girls, who do not attend primary school. Basic literacy and numeracy are the keys to developing solutions adapted to the needs of people in their communities and countries. 60 Million Girls is a public foundation established in February 2006 to support education for girls. Their objective is to support at least one major education project annually in developing countries with the greatest gender disparity in school enrolment by raising funds through their foundation. On February 28 Wanda Bédard, one of the founders of the foundation will speak at the Business and Professional Women’s Montreal chapter’s annual International Night dinner on the reasons the Umoyo Training Centre in Zambia was selected as the foundation's recipient for 2006.

The dinner will be held at the Saint James Club, 1145 Union Street starting at 5:30 p.m. For more information or to reserve, email jmacklin@videotron.ca or phone 514-769-9023. For more information about BPW go to www.bpw.ca">www.bpw.ca">www.bpw.ca



The number two for two please



Ordering Chinese food without MSG can be a challenge, especially when the food is prefab in bulk. Shun Fu restaurant at 755 Atwater surprised us when we ordered the number two for two and it did come delicious but without MSG. In fact chef and owner Chang –Hui Lin prepared the meal to order and included real ginger in the pineapple chicken and tasty egg rolls. A second order confirmed that is how they prepare the food. The menu includes Cantonese, Szechuane, Thai and sushi prepared by Lin’s wife Wan-Ju Cheng. Specials include TV dinners for one up to full course meals.



-- Marilynn Vanderstay