February 16th 2013 wasn’t just another cold winter night in the beautiful nation’s capital of Canada.
It was a night, many of us from near and far were looking forward to. The night, when friends and family gathered together to celebrate the tradition and simply just to have a great time. It was our 4th annual Mardi Gras Fasiangy Dinner and Dance Party.
Once again the Special Events and Youth Activities Committee of CSL Branch 63 in Ottawa delivered, and boy, did they deliver ever!!! They thought of everything, to make this event a night to remember.
The spacious hall was beautifully decorated. There were masks, heart candies and chocolates on every table, as well as a romantic centrepiece with floating candles and red roses. The beautiful dresses of the even more beautiful ladies smell of light perfume lingering in the air and the presence of sharply dressed gentlemen made this night truly unforgettable.
The dinner looked spectacular, and tasted heavenly! The generous menu included a colourful salad bar and antipasto platters, Schnitzels, Chicken Paprikas, traditional Slovenske knedle, bryndzove halusky, and was completed with a mouth watering Tiramisu cake for desert. The bar had no shortage of Slovak Zlaty Bazant / Golden Pheasant beer and the traditional Slivovica/ Plum Brandy.
We welcomed back the ever popular band Tempo. The crowd loves them! The dance floor was packed the whole night! The crowd went absolutely dance crazy when two of our Slovak community members, Juraj Koneval and Jozef Mader became the lead singers of the band, singing Slovak songs like “Slovenske Mamicky”, “Tancuj tancuj vykrucaj, vykrucaj”, and the popular gypsy song, “Julia, Julia”. Everyone was dancing and singing along.
One of the young member’s of our community, Andrej Stolarik recorded and played some hip music for the crowd during the bands break.
Once again, we had a beautiful mosaic of nationalities at our party. We also welcomed his Excellency Milan Kollar, Ambassador of the Slovak Republic with his lovely wife Sonia, and the Ambassador of Czech Republic, his Excellency, Karel Zebrakovsky, with his lovely wife Marketa. Father Kennedy blessed our dinner and our party.
The door and raffle prizes were once again outstanding. A huge thank you goes to all of our sponsors for all the beautiful prizes. It was heart-warming to see a larger number of younger generations at our party. We invite them to participate; we welcome them with open arms, as the future of our Slovak tradition in our community is in their hands.
The night sneaked by too fast, because we all had an amazing time!
Thank you all for coming out into the cold winter night to celebrate with us. We believe that we warmed your hearts, as you all warmed ours, because without you, there wouldn’t be a party to celebrate.
Thank you. We look forward to welcome you again next year at our 5th annual Mardi Gras Celebration.
Livia Koneval,
CSL Member, Branch 63, Ottawa.
Photos: Tibor Dej
