BC Business
2011 Fishing for Kids Tournament Celebration Reception Bowden Room, Rosewood Hotel Georgia August 27, 2011
Hawksworth Restaurant chef and Food Network star, David Hawksworth, with Marisa Cuglietta (l) and Tiffany Soper of Hawksworth Communications.
Owner of the West Coast Fishing Club, Brian Legge (l), with co-owner of the Vancouver Canucks, Paolo Aquilini of Aquilini Investment Group.
NHL defenseman Willie Mitchell, last year’s Fishing for Kids Tournament winner, with Eileen Bowden. Mitchell is a former Canuck and now plays for the Los Angeles Kings.
Senator Larry Campbell (l), with Brian Langereis, president of Vancouver-based Delta Land Development Ltd.
Tournament participants Russel Marcoux (l) of Yanke Group of Companies and Darby Kreitz (l) of Allnorth Consultants.
Sunni Brooke (c), with Stacey Kahn (l) and Marina Dreszach of the B.C. Children’s Hospital.
Eileen Bowden, with husband, Ken Bowden, executive director of Delta Land Development Ltd.
Helly Hansen brand representative Megan Soutar, with Sam Melnyk.
West Coast Fishing Club’s Nycol Bevis (l), with Annabel Hawksworth, principal of Hawksworth Communications.
Joe Bishop of Macquarie Group, the tournament’s new title sponsor, with Charlene Yates.
On the eve of the 6th annual Fishing for Kids Tournament, business leaders and NHL stars gathered at the Rosewood Hotel Georgia to celebrate the kick-off of their three-day fundraising adventure. Forty-two fishing enthusiasts will participate in the tournament held at the West Coast Fishing Club on the northern-most tip of British Columbia’s Haida Gwaii. The tournament generates funds for the B.C. Children’s Hospital Foundation and Canucks Autism Network. This year, the event aims to raise $700,000.
In a heartfelt speech, Paolo Aquilini shared his experience of being a parent of an autistic child saying, “The most you can do as a parent of any child is to help the child reach their full potential, not necessarily what the majority would consider the norm . . . whatever the norm is. Sometimes I think I’m the different one and my child’s the normal one.” The Canucks Autism Network was established by Paolo and his wife, Clara, in 1996.