Roots and Drums a HUGE Success
Volunteerism Works!
The dedicated volunteers of the "Arts Without Borders Committee" and those of the Rotary Club of Pickering raised $11,000 for the Durham West Arts Centre's Vision to have a permanent performing and visual arts centre for the arts in west Durham. The splendid May 27 th evening called Roots and Drums exemplified what is best about Canadian volunteerism. When people from all walks of life, of different ages and very diverse backgrounds give freely of their time to support a common cause, it works! From the onerous planning stages, to ticket sales and promotion, to running an event with 120 performers, a raffle, silent auction and food sales, we have over 50 people to thank for making the evening an artistic, logistical and financial success.
Qahar Andisha and Fahim Sharaf mustered the support of the Afghan community and took part in all facets of the planning. According to Fahim, co-chair of the Afghan Artists' Organization, 100 artists have made Durham their home. Fahim donated his father's original watercolour painting for the silent auction. Notably, Sharaf senior was the only Afghan artist to be appointed to draw a national stamp for Afghanistan . Qahar formerly a Director of the Afghan Coalition for Community Services added that 500-600 Afghan families presently live in Durham. The Durham Tamil Association was ably represented by Pon Balarajan, Kalyani Nathan, Raj Ravindrakumar, Sasi Rajaratnam and Dinesh Kumar. They found performers, organized finances, gathered sponsors, organized the printing of the superb program and even helped backstage. Kalyani graciously served as M.C. when Melissa Bhagat became indisposed. To top all that, the Tamil Association also donated an antique box for the silent auction.
Cecil Ramnauth and Ackema Childern gathered support from Devi Mandir which took the form of arranging performers, selling tickets, decorating the stage and helping backstage. Devi Mandir was impressive both on stage and behind the scenes. This year’s City of Pickering Civic Awards in May, the Cultural Diversity Award went to the Durham Tamil Association and the Satya Sanatan Dharam Cultural Sabha of Devi Mandir. The Durham West Arts Centre is thrilled that DWAC Membership Director, and Arts Without Border Chair, Shashi Bhatia, was able to bring these civic-minded and artistically-rich groups together for the cause of the arts centre. Ashok and Shashi Bhatia also don ated an original watercolour painting on silk by a well known artist from India .
The Arts Without Borders Committee benefited from Shashi’s leadership and organizational skills and her past experiences as chair of the DWAC Cultural Connections Committee which brought World of Music and Dance to Pickering Village in the fall of 2005. "I knew Shashi's commitment to DWAC and her ability to bring everyone together for a cause," said DWAC chair John Sabean, "and she succeeded." During the months of planning, Rana Taukir took minutes and co-chairs Tim Dobson and Chandra Chandrakumaran took on many varied duties. Each co-chair brought huge amounts of support to the event. Shailendrea and Arahana Shaw, Jennifer Perreira a J. Clarke Richardson student, Susan Carlevaris and Umera Ali each played vital roles. Jennifer helped with the stage and sound details for the auditorium, Susan organized the food court, sponsored the tickets and sold spots in the program, the Shaws contributed to the planning and collected signatures on May 27th and Umera designed the flyer. 
Other important contributors were Sarinder Sidhu who found donors and sponsors in the Punjabi community, Patrick Chandranbhan, Director of Marketing for Caribbean Feedback a newspaper which did a feature on DWAC for the international Caribbean communities and Tobias “Jun” Enverga President of the Philippine Independence Day Council of Toronto who supported the Filipino contributions to Roots and Drums. The support from these different communities made the evening special as all the performers and volunteers worked side by side to showcase aspiring and professional talents many together for the first time ever in Durham Region.
The workers behind the scene had the hardest task of all—coordinating 120 performers who had never had a rehearsal! Ashok Bhatia, a stage manager with nerves of steel, had the assistance of Warren Sathiananthan, Dharshini Sakthivel, Praveen Rajaratnam,Pavitra Sathiananthan, Reena and Jason Mendoza and Aclema Gocool as well as those backstage heroes mentioned before. Thanks to Ashok and his crew, stresses caused by last minute changes were successfully resolved.
The Rotarians were also behind the scenes supporters. As sponsors of the event, there was organizational work around the rental and insurance. However, the Rotarians were not content to remain behind the scenes. They organized and ran a raffle, were out in full force and started the evening with a cheque for $5000 for DWAC. Now that's volunteerism at its best or Service Above Self.
DWAC heartily thanks the Arts Without Borders and Rotary Volunteers. We're pleased that the arts and volunteerism did bring the community together.
Photos courtesy of News Advertiser ©
Dance, Theatre, Poetry, Sculpture, Photography, Recording Studio, Cultural Events, Puppetry, Pottery, Festivals, School Tours, Watercolours, Acrylics, Prints, Studio Space, Teaching Space, Rehearsal Space, Arts Seminars, Vocal Music, Instrumental Music, Writers’ Classes, Book Clubs, Oil Painting, Drama Activities, Arts Camps, Mixed Media, Graphics, Mime, Fabric Arts, Drawing, Readings
Durham West Arts Centre • c/o John Sabean at 928 Reytan Boulevard, Pickering ON Canada L1W 1Y7
TEL: 905-250-9891 • WEBSITE: dwac.ca • EMAIL: info@dwac.ca • WEBMASTER
