It was a night of tears and emotion, but there was also laughter and celebration at the seventh annual Evening of Pink.
"I've had phone calls and messages," said organizer Monica Peacock the day after the event, which saw 530 people fill the Civic Centre Saturday night. "There were a lot of celebratory thoughts, lots of love and lots of hugs."
Although the final numbers of the amount of money raised won't be tabulated until later in the week, Peacock said she estimated about $20,000 was brought in through the evening's donations. "That's a one night, five hour shot," she said.
Throughout the night, guests bid on auction items ranging from jewelry, furniture, fencing and books. Big ticket items included a barbecue and fully loaded canoe set. Peacock said the three raffles were also very successful.
The night was kept moving thanks to Wolf 97 FM program director Carol Gass, who served as emcee. "Without her, I couldn't have produces a very smooth evening," Peacock said.
The money raised from the event goes towards the Spirit of the North Healthcare foundation, which has their eye on purchasing an endoscopic ultrasound unit - used to obtain images of the chest and abdomen. The $400,000 piece of equipment will not only assist physicians, "but also save lives," said foundation development coordinator Deb Hamilton. "No one knows when cancer will strike, we just know it continues to do so."
Someone who understood that sentiment very well was guest speaker Libby Znaimer, a Canadian journalist who has come out on the successful side of two cancer diagnoses.
"I never thought I was going to make it here - and that wasn't just because of the threat of an Air Canada strike," said the celebrated reporter and author. Znaimer was slotted to be the keynote speaker in 2008, but had to cancel after receiving the news she had pancreatic cancer - only a couple of years after beating breast cancer.
"On this night three years ago, I was sicker than I had been in my life [from chemotherapy]," she said. Znaimer's talk covered her own journey through diagnosis and treatment as well as the attitude that worked for her.
She stressed her dislike of the idea that a positive attitude is required to beat cancer, and said perhaps that notion of happy thoughts equalling a happy outcome will be less pervasive following the death of federal NDP leader Jack Layton.
"There was nobody more positive than him," Znaimer said. "And like all other terminal cancer patients, Jack Layton didn't die of a bad attitude."
Signed copies of Znaimer's book, In Cancerland - Living Well is the Best Revenge, are available through Peacock or by the Spirit of North Healthcare Foundation by donation.
