Gananoque, Ontario
What a day! What a success! Our "Art on the River" fundraiser for the Gananoque & District Humane Society raised a whopping $35,000.00 + on July 25th, 2009. We hoped to sell 100 tickets to the event with tickets valued at $150 per person. Selling the last moment ticket yesterday morning, we realized we had actually sold 120 tickets!
After seemingly weeks of wet, horrible weather, the sun re-introduced itself to us on the day and brought smiles to many many faces as our event was an outdoor, garden party on the shore of the St Lawrence River.
Thanks to the very kind and generous hospitality of Marsha and Terry Dixon, we held our first live art auction at their Eagle Point Estate in the heart of the 1000 Islands - perhaps the grandest of the modern-day castles located on a prime point of re-created land near the Ivy Lea International Bridge.
The Dixons blasted thousands of tons of red granite, moving back the rock face to create a manicured site for their home, Eagle Point, named after the bald eagles who sometimes nest nearby, while water rushes down a series of waterfalls created on the large piece of property. This is a prime address on Canada's Millionaire Row.
Marsha kindly arranged for groups of 15 at a time, to have an escorted 45 minute tour of her home beginning with the grand living room and it's elaborate metal chandelier hand-crafted in Mexico which soars 50 feet above polished hardwood flooring and two levels of windows circling the turret. An intricately carved wooden mantel surrounds the fireplace, rising up the wall to frame a wooden carving of the Dixon family's coat of arms.
In the lower portion of the house, the utility room is like the engine room of a ship, with $1 million worth of equipment for heating and cooling the home, and purifying and pumping water. Among other things, it pumps water for the 5 waterfalls that cascade down granite cliffs beside the house and into the swimming pool.
Eagle Point, currently listed for sale at $18 million, has six bedrooms, three kitchens, 4 laundry rooms and a master-bedroom suite that would be the envy of a monarch or billionaire. Handcarved in Portugal, her bathtub is made of marble. There are no faucets - hot water is pumped in through a hole in the bottom of the tub.
Their luxury cruiser bobbed beside the dock, and Terry surprised the guests with his offer of tours around the islands after the auction of donated, local artwork was completed. Those that were already familiar with the river, stayed ashore and enjoyed a vast assortment of delicious nibblies whilst being entertained by the musician on the upper deck floating his tunes down around the swimming pool.
$35,000 raised in one short but fantastic afternoon is quite a feather in the Humane Society's cap and you can be assured that there will be more events of this magnitude, but most likely not in such a magnificent venue - Thanks Marsha and Terry!
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