A ROYAL ROAST A LIVELY AFFAIR

Oldtown News
Vancouver, BC

A ROYAL ROAST A LIVELY AFFAIR

A Royal Roast held on August 26 was a wonderful and fun time. A full house packed Chapel Arts to roast and toast the Queen of the Downtown Eastside and a royal rubbing I received.

Stepping in at the last moment, filling in for Kevin McKeown who's father-in-law was desperately ill was Michael Harding.

Mr Harding kept the evening running smoothly and did a terrific job of emceeing the event. Thank You Michael! Ms Sandra La Framboise started the evening off by offering up a traditional Aboriginal prayer and thanking the guests for attending. Making sure the evening was recorded was Lenore Herb. Thanks Sandra and Lenore!

Former Mayor of Vancouver, Philip Owen and his beautiful and gracious wife Brita attended and brought a sparkling start to the evening. Mayor Owen paid tribute to the Downtown Eastside and also the work that I've done in the community. The Owens spoke about the community strengths in the DTES and they both shared their fondness for this venerable neighborhood. Thank You Philip and Brita for attending!

Other political dignitaries attending and offering their support were Councillors Suzanne Anton, Elizabeth Ball and Kim Capri with her dashing and very handsome husband Erin. The Councillors in their speeches were absolutely charming. Being the DIVAS that they are, they wore their best high heels and I want to thank them for making this night a truly memorable evening for me!

Council candidate Michael Geller attended with his beautiful daughter Claire who is sporting the best dreads I have seen! Michael who I think is a shoe-in for Council, stayed the entire evening, watching the fabulous performances put on by Symone, Iman, Hazzel D Pontiac and Sarah Blanket. Mr Geller thinks he might even request these showgirls perform at one of his political events. Now that would be a treat watching his developer and architect friends mixing with the fabulous Drag Queens of the Davie Village. I can't wait!

Former Park Board Commissioners and current candidates for Park board, Laura McDiarmid and Christopher Richardson stayed the entire night and spoke of their support for my candidacy and their desire to have me as part of their team. Mr Richardson even drove the Queens back to the Davie Village. That would have been a sight to watch if Mr Richardson, who is an officer of the law was pulled over by his colleagues in blue!

Many community leaders attended and had the Queen in stitches.

Mr David Wong, A leader in Chinatown was hilarious and he spoke fondly of his family and the Hamilton family working closely together to save the Strathcona and Kiwassa neighborhoods from the wrecking ball. What a gem Mr Wong is!

Of course, the potty-mouth Patrick, aka Patrice, co-owner of the infamous Elbow Room was his usual self--charming. This man along with his partner Bryan Searle, are givers in this City and we are fortunate to have them. They are both true Vancouver legends!

Old friends Karen Sorensen, Bennett Williams and Raigen D Angelo shared many interesting stories of my checkered early childhood, teen and early 20's life. They were informed though to keep the stories a tad tame but of course they didn't pay any attention to the Queen's advice.

So many special friends came out on this rainy night from every part of this City and I really thank them all. Trude Huebner who has been waging the battle with breast cancer and overcoming it has truly inspired me. Way to go Trude! Thanks to Lea Johnson and Anthony Norfolk for squeezing time out of their busy schedules to attend. Bob Scharf who has written an original score for the campaign, his lovely wife Susan and his 84 year old mother Joyce attended and I thank them. Barb Daniel, who is penniing a biography of my life looked absolutely radiant and I'm wondering is she has a new man in her life.

I especially want to thank a number of hard-working members of my campaign team who ensured the success and smooth running of the evening. Thank You to Victor Bearpark and Mike Davey who greeted guests at the door and Becky who assisted in preparing the lovely roast beef dinner.

A special Thank You to Murray H, an old school friend of the Owens for attending and my deep appreciation goes out to the 411 Ladies, the lovely Lenora Hayman and Dorothy Brennan who travelled all the way from Dunbar Heights to the Downtown Eastside to attend the roast.

And my charming Green party and Rainbow caucus leaders, Drina Reid and Patty, thank you for always supporting me and making my life even more interesting!

What a fun political evening evening and while a departure from your normal poltical events, after all who else would have a Madam, (Thanks Scarlett Lake) at their political event, however, what else could you expect from A boy who would be Queen!

Jamie Lee Hamilton
Queen of the Parks
info@queenoftheparks.com