By Joe Mancini
Published in June 1997
This year marked the tenth year that the Mayor’s Dinner has recognized the commitment of community spirited individuals while raising money for The Working Centre and St. John’s Kitchen. Ken Murray was the Guest of Honour and was recognized by Mayor Richard Christy for “his social conscience and commitment to build community institutions which have left their mark in Kitchener-Waterloo as has his own personal integrity and good nature.”
There were three highlights to the evening. The first was Neil Aitchison’s tribute to the ten past guests of honour: Dominic Cardillo, Jonas Bingeman, Betty Thompson, Milo Shantz, Sr. Aloysia Zimmer, John Wintermeyer, Lorna van Mossel, Milton Good, Anna Kaljas and Ken Murray, who were either personally there or were represented by family members. The ten guests represent a long tradition of good works and building community that stretches back to the 1920s.
The second highlight of the evening was the tribute to Ken Murray. The three speakers were: Mary D’Alton, General Manager for the Waterloo Inn and a friend and colleague of Ken’s from the K-W Community Foundation; Dave Adams who spoke of Ken’s long history reconciling national issues related to the Canadian meat industry (this coincided with a letter sent by Eugene Whelan who remembered Ken as welcoming an “unknown communist’ Mikhail Gorbachev to Schneider’s head office in the early 1980s); Mordechai Rozanski, President of the University of Guelph, who spoke of Ken’s career-long commitment to the university’s research and development work. We enjoyed meeting and honouring Ken and he was a fitting addition to the list of Mayor’s Dinner guests of honour.
The third highlight came during the Live Auction. The first auction item was a contribution from Ken Murray, his own personal well-used meat saw and cleaver. After a very exciting bidding exchange, Schneiders bought the saw and cleaver for a grand $10,000 as a tribute to Ken Murray and as a donation to The Working Centre’s Building campaign. Overall the evening helped us to raise a total of $30,000.
Our special thanks go out to: Mayor Christy as host of the evening, Neil Aitchison as a witty and enthusiastic Master ofCeremo nies, Lawrence Bingeman and Bingeman Park, Dave Kropf and Encore Printing, Dominic Cardillo, Margaret Motz, Jack Downes of Kabel’s, BillJanzen ofJanzen Pi anos, the Macpherson clan, Larry Crawford and the Centro de Trabajo Band, Bob Federchuk, Jim Fischer, Bill Payne, Don Allen, Jim Crawford, Ron MacDonald and many others.
A special thank you to:
The Patrons:
RPM – Research Development and Manufacturing Corporation, Sims Clement Eastman, Schneiders, 1-laliman Construction, Zehrs Markets, McNeil Consumer Products, MacNaughton Hermsen Britton Clarkson Planning Limited, Homewood Health Centre Inc.
Community- Table Supporters:
First Echo Group, K-W Community Foundation, St. John the Evangelist Anglican Church, University of St. Jerome’s College, Gowling Strathy and Henderson, Waterloo Region Roman Catholic Separate School Board, Canada Trustco Mortgage Company, RDM Corporation, Michelin North America, Laidlaw Waste Systems, St. Louis Catholic Church, K-W House Church Assembly, Margaret and Bob Nally, Andy Nessnei, University of Guelph, Grand River Foundation, Wilfred Laurier University, K-W Kinsmen Club.
Contributors:
Senator Eugene Whelan, Murray and Eleanor McEwen, Jim Crawford, Saturn Scale, Andrew Telegdi, M.P., White Rose Farms, K-W Record, Pat Flynn, Saturn Scale Systems, Chris Gray, Rees Mechanical, Larry Cross, Cadillac Fairview, Guard Inc., Price Club, Ken Westhues.
The 170 businesses and individuals who contributed to the auction including CHYM/CKGL, Uniroyal Goodrich, and Ken Murray.
The 540 people who attended the dinner and helped to make it a great evening.
