By: Hillary Robert
Pembroke campus will be hosting a spring event for the community in celebration of women.
The event, Girls Night Out, will be held at the Waterfront Campus of Algonquin College in the Ottawa Valley. On April 18, women are invited to the college for a night of laughs, hor d’oeuvres and cocktails. In support of local businesses, the event will be catered by a local restaurant, Ullrich’s On Main. There will be a fashion show put on by local women’s clothing boutiques. Models will dress up in the stores’ attire and interact with the women in order to show off without disrupting the socializing.
The event is a fundraiser that will be supporting the college as well as a female student at the college. “The biggest portion is going to go to the fundraising campaign for this campus,” said Jamie Bramburger, manager of community and student affairs at the Pembroke who has been behind the event since the get-go. “A portion of it is also going to go to a woman who studies at our campus through a financial aid bursary.”
Marie Mask, one of the organizers of the event, is looking forward to seeing the many women of the community come together and have a great time for an evening. “We put together a committee of ten people, one man and nine women,” said Mask.
“We pulled together a committee of women in the community and they just ran with it,” said Bramburger.
The committee is the backbone of the event. They work on finding local businesses who would like to be involved, advertising in the community, selling tickets, finding the entertainment and putting together a wonderful night.
The event starts at 5 p.m. and is meant for women to come directly from work to the campus. There will be a performance by comedian and inspirational speaker Deborah Kimmett and music will be provided by a DJ throughout the rest of the event. “Deborah does a lot of work with women’s groups,” said Bramburger. “She is both an inspirational speaker and comedian. We thought it was a really good opportunity.”
There is a humorous twist to the event. Prominent local men will be serving the women throughout the entire evening. “It will be kind of nice to have the men waiting on the women,” said Bramburger. “We wanted it to be a really special night in celebration of women”
Local radio station Star 96 and the Pembroke branch of Scotiabank are sponsoring the event. Tickets are available for $100 at the college or Scotiabank in Pembroke. Any tickets purchased before March 31 will enter buyers into a draw to win tickets to see Oprah Winfrey in Ottawa.
Algonquin College’s Pembroke campus is proud of its involvement within the community. The support of local businesses and the community have helped make students feel like they belong. The event was suggested by a member of the community and, though it is open to students, is geared towards all the women of Pembroke.