The parish hall at Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Ottawa hosted a reception last Saturday to honor Wanda Hartlin, who is retiring from managing Campaign Life Coalition’s Ottawa office.
She is a long time friend of our parish and our former Bishops, as their office used to be within walking distance. When Campaign Life was looking for a venue for this farewell party, we were more than happy to offer our humble space and it proved to be just right for the more than 100 people who attended the open house, including two Members of Parliament, Campaign Life Coalition President Jim Hughes who flew up from Toronto, Ottawa lobbyist Johanne Brownrigg and Campaign Life stalwart Paul Lauzon.
The sisters from the Queenship of Mary provided the hospitality and the food, decorating the room and providing sumptuous treats ranging from meatballs, to Mexican style layered dip, bruschetta straight from the oven and more.
Wanda will not be retiring from the scene altogether, we can all gratefully say! She will be organizing next year’s 40 Days for Life.
The prolife MPs in the pictures above are Conservative Pierre Lemieux and Conservative Royale Galipeau. Jim Hughes is wearing the red shirt and he’s pictured with Michael Lemieux. The little boys in the picture belong to Georges Buscemi of Campagne Quebec-Vie, based in Montreal.
Truly, a good time was had by all and what a great send-off for Wanda who has done great service for the cause of life.
Sorry to be so late in putting this up, but I wasn’t feeling well last week. The flu bug seems now to have passed.
Glad to see Jim Hughes was there.
This was a beautiful tribute to Wanda which she will always remember. I want to thank all who made this happen with many thanks,
Bernie, (Wanda’s better half).