Casino Night 2015
$ 5,000.00 on the Red; Jokers are worth $10,000.00 and Double Down on a pair of ten’s. These betting colloquialisms were heard repeatedly at the SAFA Casino Fun Night; held on Saturday March 14, 6.00 pm to 11.00 pm…sorry if you missed it.
This Faculty Fun Night was sponsored by SAFA Academic Faculty Association and was held at the Gateway-Student lounge. Attendance was around 90 + people, some adorning St. Paddy’s Day paraphernalia and an enthusiastic attitude to go with it. The Gateway staff were our hosts and bar services, and provided an enjoyable buffet selection of cold and hot foods, with a few “low fat” pizzas adjoining the selection (well, we believed they were low fat).
Casino vendors were well organized and extremely sociable, and of course the best part of the gambling hype was the money gambled and won was all Fun Money…no one was out of pocket…certainly Not SAFA’s intent. To round off your gambling winnings one could trade in their winnings for raffle tickets; draws were for a selection of prizes- 5 prizes of $ 50 for gift cards: 2 x Keg / 2x Earls / 1 x Cinema-Plex / 1 x iTunes; Dinner for Two at our prestigious Highwood Dining Room, and 1 SAIT Culinary Cookbook. The Highwood Dinner for Two prize and the Cookbook were generously provided by the School of Hospitality and Tourism.
The evening was an opportunity for Faculty members to mingle and meet some colleagues that they do not necessarily work with… and it was a chance for Mom and Dad to get a night away from the kids and have some Adult fun. My sincere thanks to those who did attend. Moreover, I did have the opportunity to speak to a number of people that night, I apologize to those members and their significant others if I did not get the chance to say hello.
These events do not come off without the help and support of certain individuals, so I would like to acknowledge those individuals that helped behind the scenes: Kathie and Michele from the SAFA Office for the ticket printing /advertising and ticket selling. Special thanks to Kathie for securing the Gateway. Cam for greeting people and providing drink tickets and taxi chits for those individuals that required them. Candace for her liaising with the Casino vendors and her gaming participation.
SAFA believes that these social events are instrumental in building membership awareness, camaraderie and solidarity with the Faculty of our Institution. We are always open to ideas/suggestions that one may have to improve our social profile. We encourage our members to attend and participate in any event that appeals to them- when they can.
James McWilliams
SAFA President