Normally, volunteer events at boroughs are pleasant afternoon receptions designed to recognize active volunteers with certificates and perhaps a buffet lunch. Not in LaSalle.
LaSalle Mayor Manon Barbe fetes her volunteers in style.
Last Saturday night, more than 500 people lined up for half an hour to get into the Desjardins Theatre for une soirée électrisante sur la route de Memphis.
One of each pair held a folded old-style record—an invitation to the 2014 Soirée de Bénévoles—in their hands. Pillars of light beamed next to and around the guests. Security agents wearing all-black blocked stairwells and doors.
You are the heart and soul of the borough,” said Barbe, when she welcomed the audience. “Our borough relies on contributions from volunteers like you.”
Mayor Manon Barbe, MPP Robert Poeti, City councillors Richard Deschamps and Monique Vallée, borough councillors Nancy Blanchet, Laura Palestini, Serge Declos and Josée Troilo, and MP Helene LeBlanc stood patiently in a receiving line greeting every person who arrived. They greeted each person with a handshake or kiss.
Each guest then enjoyed a glass of red or white wine in the foyer, before entering the theatre for a concert by Martin Fontaine and the Groovy Good Times. The star of Elvis Story was accompanied by his four-man band. Together, the group put on an extraordinary performance of fifties and sixties favourites that had most people standing next to their seats dancing to among other hits, “Don’t you step on my blue suede shoes” and “Who let the dogs out.”
Note 1: This story appeared on pages 10 and 16 of the City Edition of the Suburban.
Note 2: The borough of LaSalle provided me with the following answers:
How many people were invited and from which organizations did they come?
A total of 840 invitations were available to all accredited organizations of LaSalle (the number of invitations available varied according to the membership size of each association)
How many attended?
650 volunteers came to October 25th’s Soirée des bénévoles
How many borough staff attended?
“I suppose you mean to ask how many borough staff worked to make the Soirée des bénévoles possible,” wrote Pierre Dupuis. “It’s 24 : 10 white-collars, 8 blue-collars, 1 professional and 6 management. No other borough staff attend the Soirée des bénévoles.”
What is the budget for the event and from which specific line item does it come?
Expenses : $ 51 505 ( from Recreational and Leisure Activities and General Administration)
Salaries : $ 7 339 ( from Recreational and Leisure Activities and Transportation) Note :these wages represent the overtime paid to the 18 white and blue collar employees working over the week-end for the Soirée des bénévoles. City management or professional staff are not paid for extra work done during a week-end)
Total : $ 58 844
What were the attendance figures and budgets for the same event in 2013 and 2012?
2013 : 400 participants (expenses : 51,400 $)
2012 : 600 participants (expenses : 56,200 $)
Note : salaries for 2012 and 2013 were quite certainly similar to 2014
Note 3: Why I was there
I attended the event with Joseph Pugliese.
When Legion 212 president Fred Jennings couldn’t go to the event, he decided to send Joseph Pugliese in his stead. He also asked Pugliese to deliver special golden pins for poppies. Jennings, a World War II veteran, hopes that the pin will inspire the politicians to work diligently to support local veterans.
Pugliese has been asking LaSalle borough politicians questions about who attends their VIP events and what such events cost, so Jennings thought he might like to see one such event firsthand. Pugliese invited a Suburban reporter as a second witness. Both of us had to provide our names, addresses and phone numbers to the borough a week prior to the event.
Pugliese picked up the invitation from the Legion to show at the door, but he didn’t need it. After coats were taken at the coat check, an employee took guest names.
After the performance, everyone went downstairs to enjoy a buffet of sandwiches, deli meats, croissants, cupcakes, strawberries, pineapple, broccoli, peppers etc. with tea, coffee, wine or beer, (Ironically given an earlier story, I have an allergy to gluten, so I stuck to chips and wine.)
A deejay was playing for anyone who chose to dance, but I left just after 10 p.m. before dancing got underway.
