Wow! Another great Ugly Tie Affair and a successful week-long campaign under our belts. We’ve seen the bad and the ugly. Now here’s the good part: with your generous support, we’ve hit our fundraising goal of $15,000! Let’s take a quick look back at last month’s Ugly Tie campaign:
Every year we do things a little differently in the quest to find the best fashion faux pas. This March, we saw everything from feather and glitter bow ties, to uber wide neckpieces inspired by Looney Tunes and 70s motel rooms. We even witnessed ties where we’d never seen them before—around the ankles, elbows, and waist—and on people we never imagined could pull them off (this post’s image comes to mind…)
Our Ugly Tie Affair, on March 13, was truly an evening to remember—and a tacky trend to quickly forget. A big round of applause to Kaitlyn Herbst, traffic and weather reporter from Global BC, and to our Peer Program Specialist Kirsten Sharp, for their tag team emceeing. Together, they walked us through the evening with perfect style and humour (and with perfect excuses for when their family members kept conveniently winning all of our prizes.)
It wasn’t easy picking just one Ugly Tie winner. In case you missed it, our top tie from this year was ‘Zebra in the Face’—a complete, in-your-face necktie on safari. The close runner up was ‘The Ugliest Thing You’ve Ever Made’—think panels, pompoms, and pipe cleaners.
Our Tequila Tie Tying Takedown went down rather smoothly: contestants scrambled to knock back a shot of tequila before fashioning a tie knot in the shortest amount of time. Of course, our longest-standing staff member, Maureen Brownlee, took home the prize for fastest tequila-drinking-tie-tier. That’s no surprise to us—also not surprising is that almost no one under 50 can tie a tie properly (and those who do are ladies!)
The Reverse Draw wrapped up our night with a few winners and a lot of losers—but none as lucky as the “losers” who took home the three grand prizes: a dining experience at the Cactus Club Café, two tickets to an upcoming Canucks game, and a flight to anywhere in North America. (No ugly tie attire necessary upon redemption.)
As we wrap up, we’d like to give a special thanks to our partners in this event: Macdonald’s Home Health Care, Thrifty Foods, Simpson Thomas and Associates, Cactus Club Café, and Global BC. We couldn’t have put on this ugly-event-for-a-good-cause with you. And, we owe a major shout out to Front and Company for their large donation to the campaign—and for the original bacon tie.
Plus, a huge thank you goes out to Phillips, Hager & North and Slater Vecchio for their continued support of this campaign. Over the last three years they have proven not only their dedication to the cause, but also their uncanny ability to get ugly. Don’t believe us? The evidence is all too well documented on our Facebook album!
We’re so excited to announce that we have reached our campaign goal of $15,000! This will help us to continue to provide critical services for people living with spinal cord injury, and their families and friends, as they adapt, adjust and thrive in their new lives.
We couldn’t continue to make such a significant impact in our communities without the support of ICORD, the staff at the GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre, our program sponsors and, of course, our SCI BC Peer members. For more info on the impact of your contribution check out our YouTube Channel, and be sure to stay tuned for more upcoming events!
Fantastic post and an even more fantastic event. I look forward to wearing my ugly tie all year lo…er, next year.