Kathy Mooney, Director Product Development, Air Canada Vacations with Joe Carter
NHL Legend & former Leafs Captain Doug Gilmour with the Celebrity bar gals
1993 World Series Winning Walk-off Homer
Johnny Bower with Open Jaw's Suzanne Christie
Dr. J (Julius Irving)
Wild Thing
Wow – wasn’t that a party? Hundreds of VIP’s and celebrity sports and film stars packed the Level 400 Summit Suite at the Rogers Centre to hob nob, neck crane, play ‘name that famous person’ and bid on sports memorabilia at the pre-party for Joe Carter’s Classic Golf Tournament in support of the Children’s Aid Society. And although nobody seemed to notice, there was a Blue Jays game going on – and they won - again!
Back to the more important party stuff. Celebrity Cruises is really amping up their presence in the GTA market to create brand awareness and herd affluent cruise prospects into the booking mechanism channels of their travel agent partners. Part of the plan is to participate in high profile events that Cruise Lines are not normally associated with. So, they got involved with this popular event that also raises funds for another great cause.
Maybe I don’t get out much, but the party wasn’t only being hyped by yours truly. A serious sampling of NHL, CFL, NFL, NBA, WWE, TV, film and a fair portion of the twittersphere are all over it.
The Celebrity folks were working it pretty hard at the actual golf tourney too... and by the looks of the crowd – a lot of brand awareness is being poured over some pretty jacked celebs.
Celebrity Cruises own famous mixologists Ken Brooks, Director of Sales, Canada and Keith Lane, V.P. Field Sales, North America were on hand at the pre-19th hole creating cocktails for thirsty golfers on a perfect pre-summer day.
It was all such an upbeat affair hosted by the man who probably provided Toronto with one of its highest highs ever (which will only be eclipsed when the Leafs win the cup next year... or the Jays win the Series this year?). And, Joe Carter’s smile can still light up a whole stadium.
So, who did I spot besides the Man himself? Dave Stewart, Devon White, Johnny Bower (I think more people had their pic taken with him than anyone else – including me!) Evander Kane, Kenny Lofton, Cody Hodgson, Trish Stratus, Mike Kostka, Damon Allen, Dr. J (Julius Irving) and Morris Chestnut.
Whoah... that’s a whole lot of name dropping. I did have some help with the name that celebrity game, but even so, didn’t manage to spot Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Marcus Allen, Ozzie Smith, ‘Wild Thing’ aka Ricky Vaughn aka Charlie Sheen or a host of other notables in the throng.
Their presence clearly helped raise the profile and the funds for a good cause.
