SHUCK AND AWE: Fourteen oyster shuckers including two-time world champion Michael Moran and six bartenders from around the province, participated in Bearfoot Bistro’s fourth annual World Oyster Invitational and Bloody Caesar battle. More than a thousand guests converged at the Whistler Golf Club driving range for the oyster competition and charity garden party benefitting Playground Builders. The CBC’s Rick Cluff emceed the hotly contested affair that came down to Vancouver’s Issac Del Campo (Rodney’s Oyster Bar) besting Gibson’s Ian Peck (Smitty’s Oyster House) in the finals. Playground Builders is a registered Canadian charity dedicated to building playgrounds for children in war-torn areas. Since 2007, founder Keith Reynolds has created over 165 safe playing spaces for children.
FIGHTING GANGS AND DRUGS: For the past 17 years, Vancouver Police Department’s Odd Squad productions have been producing videos on the perils of gang life, drug use, and violence and screening them to high school students throughout the province. Dependent solely on donations from individuals and businesses, the non-profit hosted its inaugural Jewels and Jeans Gala held at Birks flagship store in Vancouver. Odd Squad executive director Doug Charlton and chair Bob Golden, along with yours truly who emceed the fundraiser, welcomed several hundred supporters to the sparkling cocktail party. A simulated takedown by officers had guest’s heart pumping, while a generous live auction led by Howard Blank saw organizers jumping.
SPICY SUMMER: Food, film, conversation, dance and literature, the Indian Summer Festival blends South Asia and Canada by celebrating the arts, ideas, and culture through exhibitions, presentations, and performance events. A culinary tour of South Asia curated by chef Vikram Vij at the Dr. Sun-Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden kicked off the fourth running of the popular festival, which continues until July 12. Festival founders artistic director Sirish Rao and his wife, managing director Laura Byspalko, greeted authors, academics and artists gathered for the gastronomic gala. Vij, who days earlier opened his newest resto My Shanti in Surrey, will close the celebrations hosting a starlight dinner with guests of honour: The Dabbawalas of Mumbai, the legendary lunch box deliverymen.
