Thank You, Thank You, Thank You
Kay Armatage
I am taking advantage of the Cinema Studies website to express publically my gratitude to everyone who made Celebrating Kay Armatage so wonderful. I was completely thrilled by everything on that fabulous day of the roundtable and the reception. Everyone contributed so much and so generously not only in money and labour but also in spirit. Here are my thanks:
First of all to Innis College and New College, Cinema Studies and Women and Gender Studies, who contributed the costs of the delicious and elegantly served food, free-flowing drinks (prosecco!), decorations and technology.
Janet Paterson, Principal of Innis College, was the prime mover of the event and knew from the beginning that we wouldn’t be happy with a stuffy or formal affair. She guided every discussion of the party with a clear vision that we were going to have an event that was relaxed, entertaining, unusual and – most of all - fun.
Kass Banning (CSI) worked tirelessly to organize the roundtable discussion. She recruited the speakers, organized the cyber-guest technology, brought the flowers for the table, and designed the flier. It was her spirit that made it such a gratifying event.
Thanks now to the roundtable speakers, who all said such wonderful things about me: Caitlin Fisher (York), Patricia Gruben (UBC), Brenda Longfellow (York), Theresa Scandiffio (TIFF), and cyber-guests B. Ruby Rich (UC-Santa Cruz), Catherine Russell (Concordia), Kaja Silverman (Pennsylvania), and Shelley Stamp (UC-Santa Cruz).
And thanks to the speakers and entertainers at the reception, in order of appearance: Janet Paterson, who set such a great tone as she introduced the other speakers; Charlie Keil (Cinema Studies), who gave the perfect official speech; Donald Boere (Innis College) and Bev Lewis (FAS), who performed superbly an extraordinarily difficult oboe and keyboard duet as an accompaniment to a clip from a Nell Shipman film; Mary Nyquist (WGSI), who spoke about our many years together in Women’s Studies; June Larkin, Kathryn Morgan, Heather Murray, and Mary Nyquist (WGSI) who sang a song about me (“She is the very model of a modern women’s studies type”) with which everyone sang along at the end; Ceta Ramkhalawansingh (Principal’s Appointee, Innis College Council, formerly of City Hall), who gave the rousing fund-raising speech; and Joe Culpepper (former CSI teaching assistant and professional magician), who wowed everyone with a magic illusion performed on me.
Bart Testa (CSI) presented me with two wonderful gifts from Innis and CSI: an IPAD and a Robert Houle painting. I was absolutely floored by the largesse of the gifts, but I was even more deeply touched by the fact that Bart had remembered a conversation from years ago in which I had expressed my admiration for Robert Houle’s work. These gifts will be treasured, I assure you. And a big thank you to my friends and colleagues at WGSI, whose gift I am already enjoying.
Behind the scenes, there was an army of helpers in many capacities. Brian Coates (Innis CAO) handled all the finances; Paul Day (Innis Residence) assisted Tim Worgan with location arrangements; Jason Daye (Innis) helped me with the slide show of photos; Alex Armatage House organized the party music; June Larkin and Kathryn Morgan (WGSI) helped me choose photos for the slide show; Shawn Liu (former CSI student) videotaped the whole day; Eyan Logan, Kathleen McCarthy and Sean Rogers (Innis Town Hall) transferred old videos onto DVD and edited excerpts from my films and media appearances; Mike Hamilton and Charlotte-Mae Jacobs (Media Commons) lent their time and facilities for transferring old Beta tapes to DVD; Steve Marchitelli (Innis Residence) managed the tech for the event; Bonnie McElhinny (WGSI) lent her support from the beginning; Heather Murray (ENG) wrote the lyrics to the song about me; Karen Papazian (Innis) was in charge of fund-raising and managed the guest list; Tony Pi (CSI), with his team of work-study students, fussed over food and the invitation list for weeks, always had his finger on the pulse of the process and averted many potential setbacks; Meghan Sbrocchi (WGSI) worked with Tony Pi to compile the guest list; Maitri Vosko (Innis) helped so much in every way, even running out during the roundtable to buy me fish-net stockings for the party because I had admired hers; and Tim Worgan (Innis Residence) was in charge of all the arrangements concerning the reception location – a huge job, including having fridges moved, putting up tents, whisking chairs in and out, moving tables, setting up screening equipment, arranging the gorgeous flowers, and probably many other things that I don’t even know about. You can all be proud of this complex and spectacular event that went off without a hitch, and you have my gratitude forever..
Kay Armatage on stage with magician Joe Culpepper
Finally, thanks to my family and friends who came to celebrate with me - so many people that I have worked with at the university, on films, film events and at TIFF, and who have been friends for many decades.
Thank you all for your participation in making this event so enjoyable and so gratifying for me.