Dear Editor,
I read in your Chiangmai Mail (Issue 9) the article about
the FERC Gala Dinner and that there was a speech about how the Foundation
was established.
Something was missing, I could not find the name of the
person who started these Gala evenings? Maybe only few people know that
Celeste Tolibas - Holland had the vision to organize a big Gala evening to
raise money for the needs of children. She knew that the Vieng Ping
children’s home needed a new pick up truck at that time. The idea was born
and she, Margaret Bhadungzong, Renee Vines, Becky Lomax and Frank Weicks did
the whole organization, put their whole heart into the preparation of this
first evening.
They did almost the whole organization by themselves.
Gary Dilley was so generous to open his house for that evening and Marc
Dumur got the members of the hotel association to donate all the food. That
first evening was already a success. Enough money was raised to get the
needed truck for Vieng Ping and the annual Gala evenings were born.
Thank you Celeste for your wonderful vision!
I know if I would talk to Celeste she would say it
doesn’t matter who started it. The most important thing is to help
children. But I felt I had to ad this missing information to give her the
credit she deserves
Sincerely.
Monika Weber
