by Joy Metcalfe
(click images to enlarge)

FIRST, THE GOOD NEWS!

The Good News scoop of the week! Bob and Barbara Stewart, longtime stalwarts of the Variety Club, have just been recognized by the prestigious Variety International as the awardees of Variety’s Lifetime Service Award for their 40 years of devoted and diligent service, both here and internationally.

The award was presented at Variety International’s annual meeting last month.

My heartiest congratulations to two truly caring human beings!...

WAVE THAT WHITE TOWEL!

And there it was on the front page of Tuesday’s Vancouver Sun sports page – a long ago shot of Canucks hockey coach Roger Neilson, waving a white towel at the end of a hockey stick, in mock surrender, to protest the game’s officiating. The year was 1982.

That event prompted CKNW’s Rick Honey, as promo director of the radio station at that time, to jump on the idea of white towel waving. He got together with Butts Giraud of the Dog’s Ear Tees and purchased 5,000 white towels which were to be given away to the first fans through the door at the next game.

He had no idea what he had started!

Since then, Roger’s white towel-waving idea has become a worldwide phenomenon, born right here in Vancouver… I was on-air with Rick every day at 4:45 p.m. with the afternoon version of Joy’s Journal, live from the Trade and Convention Centre. It was a fun time working with him and I still miss him today…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MEL!

One of Vancouver’s most lovable philanthropists, Mel Zajac, spent May 16 contemplating his long and successful life, because that day Mel turned 96 years old.

It was a day full of telegrams, messages, phone calls, birthday cards, and flowers. A day of exuberance and quiet contemplation as he pondered the highs and lows of his amazing career - from a little boy born in the North End of Winnipeg known as “Lil’ Chicago,” into a life with humble beginnings.

His dad died when Mel was six and in order to survive — there were no pensions or financial supports at the time — the family had to work. His oldest brother quit school to work on the railroad, his mother worked on a farm for $2 a day, and eight-year-old Mel had a paper route. By the age of 13 he was worked at a nearby bowling alley, all to help keep the family together.

Mel came to Vancouver when he was 19 and began working in construction. It didn’t take long for him to climb up the proverbial ladder since he had an amazing drive to reach the top.

The icing on the cake for Mel was building and owning the Pacific Palisades, then the tallest apartment tower in downtown Vancouver, which eventually became the Vancouver home-away-from-home to such legendary Hollywood stars as Bob Hope, Katherine Hepburn, Tom Selleck, Dennis Hopper, Vincent Price, Kirk Douglas and so many more.

In 1964, he established the Zajac Men’s Golf Tournament out in Richmond, with many of those stars attending. I remember it well since we were such good friends, I was the only female reporter in the room at the awards dinner, year after year.

Mel’s life, though, was greatly overshadowed by the untimely deaths of his two sons, Marty and Mel Jr., eight months apart, both exceptional athletes who died in sporting accidents.

That’s when Mel, his late wife, Irene, and their daughters, Carmen, Karen and Corrine, decided to establish the Mel Jr. and Marty Zajac Foundation, a major contributor to children’s welfare charities throughout the province. In June 2004, he established the Zajac Ranch for Children on beautiful acreage in the Fraser Valley, which he and his second wife, Wendy, visit constantly, checking everything out with the medical staff and chatting with the kids.

Today, he’s still going strong, exercising and doing push-ups every day with a personal trainer and walking briskly whenever he can, especially on the golf course.

And you should also know that whenever he gets a chance, Mel jives like a pro and sings like Frank Sinatra!

His intimate birthday party dinner, organized by his three daughters, was held at the exclusive Capilano Golf Club and his guests were close friends from a long time ago. I was delighted to be one of them….

**Self-described “hired belly”, food and beverage critic Tim Pawsey.**

SIPPING AND SPITTING

The Italian Chamber of Commerce and the Italian Consulate in Vancouver co-hosted a sensational wine tasting with Giovanni Silvestri of Gambero Rosso International offering more than 100 premium wines at the Sutton Place Hotel. There was a huge turnout of sippers and spitters including Sid Cross, Jim Robinson, the Vancouver Sun’s Tony Gismondi, Bianca Zanatta, former Vancouver hotelier, Jacques Omnes and his charming wife, Penny Macdonald Omnes, the daughter of the late BC Berrings dynamo, Wendy Macdonald.

It was a great afternoon, but the happy surprise for me and other media folk was having journalist par excellence, Tim Pawsey, back in our midst. Tim had been ailing for a few weeks but has now recovered well enough to do what he does best. Stay well, Timmie!

**Canadian Cancer Society CEO Andrea Seale.**

THE DAFFODIL BALL

The headline says it all – the 28th annual Daffodil Ball raised more than $4.4 million to aid in innovative cancer research. This was an evening of firsts, as this was the first time the ball was held in the spacious Vancouver Convention Centre, and the first time they have welcomed more than 700 dressy guests. I haven’t seen such gorgeous gowns for a long time.

Comfortable in the spacious new setting, guests were welcomed by emcees, Fiona Forbes and Global TV’s Sophie Lui, who in turn introduced and congratulated the three co-chairs, Meghan Brown, Jennifer Traub, and Jill Arias, and the CEO of the Canadian Cancer Society, Andrea Seale.

Nice to see busy PR Jill Killeen with hubby, Mike, at this classy do…

AN ARMANI EXPERIENCE

A very personalized Armani Experience at the Century Plaza Hotel last month was a totally different type of fundraiser for the Pacific Autism Family Network (PAFN).

The Giorgio Armani folk were in town to display their elegant suits, dresses, blouses and pants at a tasty luncheon organized by Wendy and Sergio Cocchia in their Century Plaza Hotel, with a percentage of the funds from fashions sold going to the PAFN.

Extra treat was the ‘thank you for coming’ present of marmalade by Giorgio Armani!

P.S. The Cocchia’s annual fundraiser luncheon, LAUNCH, will again be held at the Bayshore and the date to remember is Thursday, Nov. 28…

**Stan Yip and Vancouver Sun coverage of Howard Hughes’ time at the Bayshore.**

A FITTING TRIBUTE

One year ago, the remarkable life of the Bayshore Hotel’s Stan Yip ended. Stan was the 46-year veteran bellman, bell captain, director of guest services and chef concierge at the Bayshore.

Stan was born in Vancouver to parents who emigrated from China in the early 1900s. He worked a number of jobs before applying at a new waterfront hotel that was looking for bellmen.

The hotel was The Bayshore Inn, the year was 1961, and Stan was 24 years old. During his 46 years at the Bayshore, Stan also became a founding member of Les Clefs d’Or (The Keys of Gold), whose members go above and beyond hotel guests’ expectations.

Geoff Argue, the Chef Concierge at the Sutton Place Hotel and past president of Les Clefs d’Or Canada, had a 35-year-long friendship with Stan and his lovely wife, Jane. Last month, during a drenching rain storm, Geoff spoke of Stan’s long term commitment to the values and traditions of the association at a tree planting ceremony to honour Stan.

It was tiny Jane, followed by their three children, Ryan, Kasey and Karen, who threw the first shovelful of rich earth to ensure the long life of a beautiful flowering cherry tree. The tree can be seen and enjoyed by passersby on the seawall and is a beacon, not just for the Bayshore, but for the memory of Stan Yip and his beloved family.

Long may it bloom!...Cheers!...