It’s with sadness that the Swirl and Twirl Team announce that we can no longer put on this wonderful fundraising event that we are all so proud of and therefore are cancelling Swirl and Twirl indefinitely. Since the pandemic, there have been a number of new challenges that we’ve tried unsatisfactorily to overcome and as a result, we no longer feel that that we can produce an event of the same quality and success that we have done in the past.
Amazingly, Swirl and Twirl has raised over $145,000 through 15 fundraising events for local charities supporting the queer community and our allies since we began in 2003. We are incredibly proud of this achievement, but we recognize we could not have done this without the help of many sponsors, donors, partners, vendors and volunteers who have generously supported us over the years with donations, food and wine, items for our silent auction, and of course, their time and dedication.
These contributions are far too numerous to thank individually here, but we would like to especially thank RBC for their continuing presenting sponsorship as well as the City of Ottawa and their staff for all their help over the years with providing wonderful spaces for us to host the event at.
Vendors we would like to send a special shout out to include the breweries Beau’s, Beyond the Pale, Big Rig, Blackfly Booze, Broadhead, Dominion City, Hockley, Kitchissippi, Palm Bay and Social Lite; the wineries Casa Dea, Chateau des Charmes, Coopers’ Hawk, Grange of Prince Edward, Huff Estates, Karlo Estates, Kettle One Vodka, Konzelmann, Lifford Wine and Spirits, Noble Estates, Pelee Island, Sandbanks and wine rep Fran Carmichael; and food and drink vendors Bridgehead, Fromagerie St-Albert, Massine’s, Merry Dairy, the Ottawa Mission, Saffron and Chives, Sarah J, Todric’s, Union 613, the Unrefined Olive and Whole Foods. As well, on top of all our fantastic volunteers including many from the LCBO, we’d like to give thanks to suppliers Mastermind Events and Canine Sound and Vision for helping us make the event beautiful and sensational.
Lastly, I’d like to personally thank the many volunteers who comprised our organizing team over the years. These friends and colleagues were a fantastic and dedicated crew who made every meeting fun and helped in the vision of making such a successful event over the years. It all started with the vision and concept by Mario Larochelle, who was our leader for S&T’s first ten years and remained dedicated to the event since its inception. Other members over the years included Jonathan Allen, Kerry Beckett, Lee Callan, John Gazo, Steve Horwood, Marc-Andre Millaire, Claire Sarda, Denis Schryburt, Tamara Stamis, and Patricia Stirbys, and many more. My apologies if my memory falls me… I’m not getting any younger!
All of us on the Swirl and Twirl team thank you, too, for attending the event over the years and helping us raise so much money for local queer charities. It’s been a pleasure and honour to host you all and to see everyone having such a good time.
As for us, we aren’t fully going away. it’s possible we may create some brand new and completely different event for the community in the future, so stay tuned… we’d miss you all too much to say goodbye forever.
All the best and much love,
Glenn Crawford on behalf of the Swirl and Twirl Committee