Faces of FUSION is like a night at the Oscars. Just trade the gold statues for handcrafted awards and Hollywood stars for Port City ones.
The awards ceremony and gala affair takes place February 28th at the Diamond Jubilee Cruise Terminal. Hosted by FUSION Saint John, a networking group for civic-minded Saint Johners, Faces of FUSION celebrates youth achievement in the community.
“It’s a source of inspiration for people. It’s an opportunity for the community to recognize young people for their hard work, even though they don’t do it for the recognition. These people are driven by passion,” Eric Savoie, chair of FUSION, said.
Finalists were unveiled online earlier this month. Winners will be announced at the celebration and, in keeping with the Evening at the Oscars theme, short video clips will showcase each finalist’s accomplishments.
Finalists are:
Arts & Culture
Third Space Gallery
Personal Achievement
Adrian Phinney
Julia Wright
Immigrant Entrepreneur
Enchan Endo
Robert van de Straat & Christel Postel
Community Building
Greg Bishop
Phil Sweezey
Wendy MacDermott
Business & Entrepreneurship
Fundy CrossFit
Gilliane Nadeau
Micah Peterson
Sports & Recreation
Carly Baxter
Katie Robinson
Lisa Harlow
Port Saint John, as a sponsor, will be presenting the Personal Achievement Award. The awards themselves were designed by talented young woodworker Phil Savage, each as unique as the winners receiving them.
The evening is hyper local. In addition to celebrating Saint John youth, the food will be catered by East Coast Bistro, with Tomato Tomato and WTFunk getting the crowd moving. Hance Colburne, of CBC Information Morning, will act as MC. FUSION also partnered with creatives Kelly Lawson, Bonfire Stories and Lisa Hrabluk of Wicked Ideas. Atlantica Centre for the Arts filmed the nominee clips.
After the show, guests can take their ticket up to the Canterbury Lounge for free admission, Oscar after-party style.
“We’re aiming for Saint John to come out, dressed in their evening best and honour the achievers in our community. It’s a good opportunity to connect with people, network and talk about our community,” Savoie said.
The FUSION chair said finalists are humbled by their nominations. In fact, most of them aren’t even sure why their nominator threw their name in.
“That’s not unusual for people who have true passion in what they do. I think they are really honoured and humbled by it. Hopefully this will inspire people to get involved with causes close to their hearts,” he said.
Faces of FUSION rolls out the red carpet starting at 6:30 p.m. on February 28th at the Diamond Jubilee Cruise Terminal. Entry into the gala is reserved for those 19 and over. Tickets are $60/each and special student ticket prices are discounted 50 per cent thanks to additional support from presenting sponsor CanaportLNG.
Port City 