SPRING IS IN THE AIR, Hip Hip Horrary!! The first two months of 2011 are done already and before we know it the flowers will be up and we'll be out on the golf course again!

I trust you and your families enjoyed the holiday season. I want to extend our thanks to The National Arts Centre. Through their Share The Spirit campaign, they brought the magic of live performing arts throughout the holiday season to many of our member families. Speaking of the holidays- wasn't that Christmas Party spectacular this year?! A great big thank you to Chris and Erin Phillips for hosting the party at Scotiabank Place. We had a fantastic turn out and by all accounts, everyone had a fantastic time too!

For those of you who participated in the focus groups while there, thank you for taking the time and I also want to thank the many members who completed the on-line survey. The information and feedback provided is extremely useful to us as we evaluate our programs and services and look at how we can improve or change things to increase the value and impact in you and your families' lives. So once again, thank you for taking time. Based directly on feedback from one of the focus group's is the second parents Watercolour Workshop, coming up on Monday February 28th at 7 pm. I hope you will join some of the other parents for this casual evening that includes painting and chatting with other cancer parents. At the end of the evening not only will you leave with beautiful artwork you create ~ you may make a new friend too!

I had the good fortune of being invited to a most inspirational Keller Williams breakfast event and we extend our sincere thanks to Keller Williams Solid Rock Realty who not only graciously gave me an opportunity to speak about Candlelighters, but they also presented a $5,000 cheque! Thank you!

Smiling Siblings artists had the very wonderful experience of having an Art Show, featuring their artwork hung inside the Wall Space Gallery! Our good friend and passionate supporter Trish very kindly hosted the event this past December. Thank you to Trish, to Jennifer who was also on hand for the show and to Tamsin for attending on our behalf.

It really is a distinct pleasure and a real honor to recognize some of our many supporters, who so generously give to Candlelighters-Margaret Ruppel,who held a pumpkin auction-Notre Dame High School students-BlueWave Energy through their staff Xmas Party-Daniel Stanton for his volunteer hours-SPIN's MacLaren's event-Linda Taylor and the Ottawa Guild of Potters.

I'd also like to thank NetApps for thinking of Candlelighters and giving some of our members and opportunity to see the newly released Harry Potter movie. It was awesome!

Gary Thomas, Rob Sametz and our friends from SPIN hosted Chips for Charity on Friday January 21, and I was so happy to see and meet some of our Candlelighters members. It was an exciting evening-the final table made up of new and old players alike. Dan & Chuck were on hand taking the pix and thanks to David Sullivan, our tournament coordinator. Thanks to Sam and Patti for volunteering and being beautiful at it! Good to see some of the Confed guys out also. Thank you one and all! We hope to have another event before too too long. We'll keep you posted.

And thank you also to Denis and Pamela from Bayshore for hosting such a lovely evening on February 15th. It continues to be a real pleasure to work with you and this summer's upcoming Magic Hour at Bayshore is going to be magical!

September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month and we are working on a number of initiatives again this year that will increase the profile of Childhood Cancer and showcase the programs and services that Candlelighters provides for families of children with cancer throughout the year. We will most definitely be looking for families to participate with us in these events. As we get closer and dates are confirmed, I will be back in touch with you and you can check candlelightersfor updates. Also, please join us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter!

Until next time, I wish each of you and your families the very best.

Bereaved Parents Support Group held on March 3rd, 17th and 31st at Saint Paul University. For more details please contact Tamsin

Smiling Siblings Watercolour Workshop Dates until June are: February 26th, April 2nd, May 7th, and June 4th. We will break for the summer

The 2nd Parents Watercolour Workshop and Social Monday February 28th - to participate at no cost please contact the office

Our 1st Patients Watercolour Workshop March 5th - to participate at no cost please contact the office

**New** Educational Seminar/Workshop Candlelighters Couples Day ( Date TBD) - a workshop for parents of children with cancer where they can look at the stressors of having a child with cancer and the impact on their relationship, coping strategies, marital stress and positive communication cycles.

Ottawa Senators Alumni Bursary ~ $1,000.00 Deadline is March 31, 2011. Application is available online at candlelightersunder the member section.

There are a few events coming up shortly in support of Candlelighters:

March 5 - Musical Prayers United Metropolitan Bible Church, 2176 Prince of Wales Drive, Ottawa 7:00pm An evening featuring artists Scott Towaij, Chris Bray, Sean Dayton, Geoff Dresser, Paulo Mugarura and Joel Williams. $10 in advance or $15 at the door. Tickets available at all three Salem Storehouse locations. All proceeds to Candlelighters.

April 1 - Comedy, Dessert and Live Auction Night-SOLD OUT!! Community Bible Church, 1600 Stittsville Main Street, Stittsville, from 7:30 PM until 10:30 PM

The 10th Anniversary of Industry Canada's CyberKids tournament is coming up this year on May 19th. Pierre, Bernadette and their crew of volunteers have already begun working hard to ensure this year is spectacular and I am so looking forward to it. Almost as much as I'm looking forward to Chipping In For Charity!!

Teramach Technologies will once again present the 8th annual Chipping In For Charity tournament on Tuesday June 7th at Eagle Creek Golf Club. For all the details please visit Chipping in for Charity

I'm hoping my swing is in fine form for the Tori Carswell Memorial Tournament , in support of Tori's Helping Hand Tori's Helping Hand Date to be announced.

And if cycling is more your thing, join Kate, Ben and Ryan(shown above) at the CN Cycle for CHEO CN Cycle for CHEOon Sunday May 1st!

Westfest 2011 takes place on June 10, 11 and 12 and Investors Group have once again welcomed us to partner with them for our Gold Ribbon Campaign. If you are able to volunteer to help us distribute pins while enjoying a really neat eclectic festival, please contact Tamsin.

Jocelyn is having her hip surgery on Monday, February 28th and will be off until the end of March. She has been waiting for this operation for almost 2 years now. She has been in extreme pain for several months now and it has been a struggle for her to get up these stairs every day. I wish Jocelyn a smooth operation and a speedy recovery! It is going to be very lonely in the office without her and I can't wait to see her dancing up those darn stairs in a month. See you then, J. ....Tamsin