What an evening! Advertisers, writers, and photographers joined us for the beginning of the evening. We wanted to thank them for their support over the last three years. At ten the doors opened to the community and the celebration continued into the wee hours.

Many of our advertisers had kindly donated prizes to give away, and when Vanessa and I discovered that the Emily Brydon Youth Foundation had recently turned down their first applicants EVER, we decided to sell raffle tickets to raise funds.

With the help of Dee Hattina (who could say no to her?) and a generous crowd, we managed to raise $1000 allowing two more kids from the Elk Valley to attend programs this winter!

Special thanks to the following businesses for their donations:

Island Lake Lodge
Fernie Alpine Resort
Giver Shirt Works
Loki Outerwear
Boardstiff
Red Tree Lodge
Yamagoya Sushi
The Brickhouse
Evolution Health & Fitness
Oasis Spa
The Massage Place
Rocky Mountain Chocolate
College of the Rockies
The Arts Station

We would also like to thank Claude and Lillis for helping out at the last minute, Dee for her spectacular selling abilities, Kirk and Jody for setting the vibe for the evening, Pierre for an amazing slide show, and of course Paula, Matty and crew at the Brickhouse.

Emily is set to ski this coming weekend at Lake Louise, training runs begin tomorrow with Downhill races on Friday and Saturday and Super G Sunday. Live feed is available at www.fix-ski.com, and you can follow along as Emily makes her way to 2010 at www.emilybrydon.com. Go Emily!!