Georgina
August 13, 2008 08:25 PM
John Slykhuis
When Dinah Christie says she’ll have celebrities at an event, you can bet the house on it.
A celebrity herself (singer, actor and more) Ms Christie is hosting a gala celebrity challenge that has drawn the support of internationally renowned wildlife artist Robert Bateman, former Toronto Maple Leaf great Rick Vaive, author Robert Munsch, cartoonist Lynn Johnston (For Better or For Worse), fashion designer Paula Lishman, jazz singer Lynn McDonald, Dini Petty, all of CITY TV’s Breakfast Television anchors, including Kevin Frankish, Frank “Frankie Flowers” Ferragine, Dina Pugliese, Jennifer Valentyne and The Good Brothers.
What’s more, The Good Brothers have promised to perform and the newly crowned Miss Canada International will be there as well.
They’re all taking part in the second annual Dinah Christie Celebrity Challenge fundraising auction to support children’s programming at the Georgina Arts Centre and Gallery Aug. 30.
This year’s event has become so big it will be moved to the new yacht showroom at Crate’s Marina in Keswick.
“They’re even leaving the new yachts in place just to add to the ambience,” art gallery executive director Heather Fullerton said. “We are adding bouncing beach balls and tropical drinks — perfect for an end-of-summer party,” she said.
The premise of celebrity challenge is to have celebrities — sports, TV, movies, politicians, media, singers, etc. — paint on a small six-by-eight-inch canvas that is then auctioned in support of the gallery’s children’s programming.
“We make it very easy for them,” Mrs. Fullerton said. “We mail our Picasso Pouch to the celeb which has everything in it to do the painting and they just pop it all back in the pouch and ship it back to us in the pre-paid envelope provided.”
More celebrities are going to be announced in future.
“You never know who might show up,” she said. “When Dinah asked her close friends, The Good Brothers, to paint a canvas, they went one giant step further and offered to perform. Dinah is almost as excited to be performing with her buddies as we are to have them perform.”
Ms Christie was born in England to a theatrical family, her parents played with the Old Vic Theatre Company.
She started her own career at the Stratford Shakespearean Festival at age 12.
A notable starring role was as hostess on the highly controversial CBC show, This Hour Has Seven Days, then starred with the late Tom Kneebone in the hit revue Ding Dong At The Dell in 1965.
Later, she mounted her own cabaret show, became a regular on Don Harron’s CBC Morningside and had her own award winning TV Special Dinah and Friends.
She was a member of the home team on Party Game, a popular charade show that ran for 10 years.
In 1978, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the feature film One Night Stand, starring Brent Carver winning the ACTRA Award for Best Variety Performer in both 1980 and 1985, followed in 1987 by the Gemini Award for Best Actress in a Comedy Series, Check It Out, which co-starred Don Adams.
Tickets for the celebrity challenge are $25 each and available at the Georgina Arts Centre and Gallery, 905-722-9587, www.gacg.com