With Bruce Parkinson
25FEB08
Joyce Bliss of Alamo gets in the snow woman building spirit
A classic WinterBoob guffah from Nina Slawek over full-contact scrabble
A flattened Snow Woman
Ambrose Morris of the Bahamas Tourist Board
Susan Bowman of Thomas Cook auctions her pink bustier
At The 5th Annual WinterBoob
The Canadian travel industry once again displayed its generosity -- and its seemingly endless capacity to have a good time -- at the 5th annual Open Jaw WinterBoob fundraising event for the fight against breast cancer.
Attendee numbers were down slightly from previous years due to a number of major industry events occurring on the same day in the Toronto area, but sponsorship was higher than ever and those who attended dug deep in support of a cause that affects everyone.
The fundraising total for WinterBoob 2008 was an astounding $28,000 -- nearly double that of previous years. On hearing the news, a Canadian Breast Cancer Society official described herself as ‘speechless.’
This year’s event held special resonance for many of the attendees as Open Jaw co-principal Nina Slawek received word of her own breast cancer diagnosis on the day after the 2007 event. That fact, combined with news of others in the industry also battling the disease, gave the impetus for a number of creative and generous initiatives from WinterBoob participants.
The annual auction of brassieres and other assorted skimpies – including a pink flamingo ‘willy warmer’ modeled by Advantage’s Stuart Morcombe -- was once again conducted by auctioneer/Insight Vacations president Doug Patterson. That part of the event generated its usual share of funds and frivolity, including Skal stepping up to the bidding plate with a concerted effort to take home Joyce Bliss's Oklahoma Cow Girl red vinyl and fringe trimmed bustier. They got it for $500, but there’s no word yet on who's going to show up wearing that item at the next Skal event.
But the fundraising side of WinterBoob was elevated to new heights when members of the audience began offering up their own services and assets for auction. Ed Radonic of Radonic Rogers Communications offered up his 40-foot sailboat for two occasions, one a romantic dinner and sail for two and the other for a corporate event and island barbecue. Together, these generated over $2,000 in bids. Vanessa Lee from Cruise Strategies raised $1,700 by graciously offering a weekend at her 5-bedroom Blue Mountain Chalet.
Melanie Dickie, Lori Patterson, Kimberly Hartley and Deborah Davy offered to prepare an in-home ‘Ultimate Romantic Dinner’ for a lucky bidder, and there was some mention of French Maid outfits, likely the prompt for Stuart Morcombe to spring $300 for the privilege.
Moving from the sublime to the absurd, Doug Patterson, Pierre Lepage, the aforementioned Morcombe and Brent Carnegie offered up topless housecleaning services. To everyone’s shock, a $500 bid was elicited from Nicole Mazza of Travelsavers. The fine folks at WestJet even jumped in to offer air tickets to EWR so the semi-naked men could get to Mazza’s Long Island home.
Apart from the evening auction, the other side of WinterBoob is a day of fun and friendship, skiing and ‘spa-ing’ and a respite from the busy season for travel professionals.
The fun began on the Insight Vacations-sponsored coach that departed the YYZ Park’N Fly lot, heading due north to Hockley Valley Resort. Enroute, WinterBoobers shared their most embarrassing moments, played party games and told jokes of dubious quality.
This was confirmed on arrival, as veteran and newbie WinterBoobers renewed acquaintances, filled up on pasta and salad courtesy of Globus/Cosmos and headed for the slopes or spa.
On the ski hill it was another glorious, sunny WinterBoob day. Wolf Paunic of Globus/Cosmos won the Signature Vacations Skidaddle Race, while Olga Sebestova was the fastest female skier, taking home the Marlin Travel Ski Bunny Award.
Ambrose Morris began training for the 2010 Bahamas Olympic Ski Team - and earned a special award of merit - for strapping on skis for the 1st time ever and becoming an enthusiastic skier in one beautiful winter day! Morris was also a contender in the Titty Toss competition, sponsored by his own employer, the Bahamas Tourist Office. He credited highly-developed hand-breast coordination for his success, but was trumped by ACV’s Zeina Gedeon, who won with four straight perfect shots.
Christine Jeynes, who has a perfect record of WinterBoob attendance, won the Nolitours and Transat Holidays Best Spa Performance and overall lounging award with her languid and subtle approach.
The Alamo judges awarded the Best Snow Woman creator to TakeOffEh’s own Jill Christie, who also distinguished herself with an enthusiastic performance in WestJet’s Name That Tune competition.
A $50 donation was made on behalf of each event winner to the First Choice for Friends team led by Dianne Jackson, which will be competing later this year in the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk.
© Open Jaw