“Sold Doubt” is described by MOVE: the company’s artistic director and choreographer Josh Beamish as a “contemporary rock dance concert” performed to instrumental renditions of No Doubt’s Greatest Hits. The Festival was thrilled to host a VIP reception for the “Sold Doubt” performance as it fits our mission to “empower youth by creating mentored work experiences and presentation opportunities for emerging artists and performers.”

The event featured chocolate from CocoaNymph, coffee, tea, a bar with local wines from Tinhorn Creek Vineyards and Saturna Island Family Estate Winery and craft beer from Dead Frog Brewery. Guests were raving about the CocoaNymph chocolate. The Sea Nymph bar, a dark chocolate with sea salt and English toffee is always a crowd pleaser. The Pepper Lime Lager from Dead Frog Brewery was the popular drink for the evening and the wines received many accolades from guests as well.


All proceeds from our bar sales supported the Chocolate Festival and MOVE: the company. The Chocolate Festival also hosted a raffle and an online auction for the event. The online auction is open until 9pm on July 12th (tonight) and there are still many opportunities to win some of the great items we have such as BC Wines Gift Basket valued at $200, Cooking Classes, PNE Passes, Restaurant Gift Certificates and more. Start bidding at: http://www.theleadersevents.com

The winners of the raffle have been drawn. Tickets were sold on July 9th and 10th at the performances. Winners are:

1st Place Prize – BC Wines Gift Basket (8 Wines). Winning number: # 728977
2nd Place Prize – Best of Fraser Valley Gift Basket. Winning number: #911236
3rd Place Prize – Gourmet box of chocolate from Chef Marco Ropke of the Pastry Training School of Vancouver. Winning number: #935037

EMAIL DAWN@CHOCOLATEFESTIVAL.CA TO COLLECT YOUR PRIZES

Thank you to everyone who attended. We’ll see you again at our Chocolate Festival events in October and November! For more info about events, check out the Chocolate Festival website.

Today we invite you and your business to donate an item to the online auction. Aside from supporting the Chocolate Festival, the benefits of donating an item include:

• Online auction with a link to your website and your contact information
• Create new marketing and sales opportunities for your business
• Tax receipt for your donation should you wish one (From registered Canadian Charity – BN 82530 3877 RR0001)
• An email introduction between your business and the winning bidder allows you to make direct contact with your potential new client after the auction to send your donation to the bidder
• Option to have the Festival accept your donation and send it to the bidder on your behalf

How to the auction works:

• Click here to donate and include the description of the donation, the value, your logo or a photo, and any restrictions on the donation
• We post your donation online at www.theleadersevents.com
• Viewing of auction items open now (plus info on the event and a donor form)
• Everyone welcome to donate and/or to bid on the auction items
• Auction opens July 8, 9 am
• Auction closes July 12, 9 pm
• Winners will be introduced to donors after payment is complete
• Donors will send auction items to winners by July 30, 2010 (or as soon after introduction as possible)
• Tax receipts sent to donors by year end

For more information about the auction email Julie@chocolatefestival.ca

The West Coast Chocolate Festival cordially invites you to the VIP opening reception on July 9th. Tickets are $75 which includes entry to the show & the VIP Reception plus a charitable tax receipt. Mix and mingle with the artists of MOVE: the company; enjoy chocolate treats provided by the West Coast Chocolate Festival, CocoaNymph Chocolates, and Pastry Chef Marco Ropke and coffee/tea and wine, all included in the $75 ticket price. A chocolate sculpture created by Chef Marco Ropke will be raffled at the performance. All proceeds from the raffle and online auction support the West Coast Chocolate Festival

Call to buy tickets for the VIP Reception: 1 888 222 6608
Tickets for the show only are available for $35 at www.movethecompany.ca

The West Coast Chocolate Festival is a non-profit organization that delivers mentored work experiences for youth, and active participation and presentation opportunities for emerging youth artists and performers, through the production of chocolate themed events. Our involvement with MOVE, a company committed to creating original works by both emerging and established artists, is an example of the mandate of the festival.

Thanks to our ever present Mentor and Festival Director, Dawn Donahue. What an amazing leader you are. Thanks for all your time.

We hope to see you at the Vancouver Playhouse on July 9th!

After we passed through security, we were driven out to our tee boxes to set up our tents. We had one tent on each golf course to ensure every golfer was able to sample our wine and chocolate.

At each tent there was a display of chocolate from CocoaNymph, the store featured in our last entry. We took the lessons Rachel Sawatzky taught us about chocolate and chocolate tasting and used them to wow the guests visiting our tents throughout the day.

Golfers loved the chocolates from CocoaNymph and couldn’t wait to visit the store themselves to check out the wide selection of products available. Everyone was excited for the 2010 West Coast Chocolate Festival and the events we have planned for this year.

Each tent also featured the 2006 Merlot from Quails’ Gate Okanagan Valley Winery. This wine has a fresh and vibrant palate with fine sinewy tannins to support the fruit. It was a perfect pairing with the CocoaNymph chocolate and especially delicious with the Sea Nymph and Urban Nymph selections.

As we left the tournament at the end of the day, golfers were asking if we had any more chocolate and even said that our booth was the best out of all 40 of the tee booths there. Quite a compliment!

Dawn Donahue, of Go Golf Events Management, thank you. Watching Dawn do double duty is amazing – producing a double shotgun tournament, mentoring the chocolate festival interns, and managing a team of 150 staff and volunteers – wow. We are proud to be part of your team. Thank you.

Thank you to our sponsors, Quails’ Gate Okanagan Valley Winery and CocoaNymph – we couldn’t have done it without your amazing wine and chocolate.

Rachel began making chocolate as a hobby seven years ago, but her hobby soon grew into a business. CocoaNymph opened its doors in 2007 to provide handcrafted chocolate made with no preservatives. All the chocolates are Rachel’s recipes and are made in-house by her and her production assistant. Making chocolate keeps Rachel busy; she can make approximately 250 chocolates per hour!

At CocoaNymph customers meet with Rachel, not a salesperson, to ensure not only unique, delicious chocolate, but also an unforgettable experience. Aside from making the chocolates and running the store, Rachel participates in various chocolate art projects. In April, she made a dress entirely from chocolate for the Ice Water Fashion Show and she’s currently working on a chocolate sculpture to be unveiled on June 11th at the Ayden Art Gallery.

The three chocolates that we had the pleasure of tasting were CocoaNymph’s flavoured chocolate bars, the samples pictured above. Rachel makes the bars in molds, 30 bars at a time.

Following proper chocolate tasting conventions (lightest to darkest) we started with the Garden Nymph bar, a white chocolate with sour cherries. Though white chocolate is typically known for its sweetness, this bar is more mellow with a subtle vanilla flavour.

The milk chocolate Urban Nymph bar was the second bar we tasted. Most milk chocolate contains between 25 – 30 percent cacoa but the Urban Nymph bar contains 45 percent. The first bite reveals a bit of crunch from the cocoa nibs inside the bar. With its coffee flavours, this bar creates a unique milk chocolate experience.

The Sea Nymph bar, our final tasting, is Rachel’s most popular bar. She describes it as dark chocolate for everyone. For those who don’t normally like dark chocolate, the sea salt cuts through the stronger taste. Dark chocolate lovers, on the other hand, find that the sea salt and english toffee enhance the flavour.

After sampling the three chocolate bars and perusing the vast selection of chocolates and other treats CocoaNymph has to offer, we couldn’t help but leave with a special chocolate treat in each of our bags.

Thank you to Rachel for allowing the Chocolate Festival team to visit. You can find more information about her chocolates on her website Cocoanymph.com or follow her on Twitter.  Go say hi to Rachel and try her delicious chocolates for yourself at her store at 3739 W 10th Avenue, Vancouver BC.

The team set up the fountains, melted the chocolate, and prepared the delectable spread of fruit and sweets to be dipped in the chocolate fountains. The platters were piled high with apples, bananas, pineapple, marshmallows, soft pretzel bits, and double chocolate brownies.

Each table had fountains flowing with different kinds of chocolate. Everyone enjoyed being able to sample and taste the difference between the milk and dark chocolate fountains.

Guests enjoyed the thrill of dipping their selections under the streams of chocolate and experiencing the taste of the warm chocolate mingling with the sweet and delicious fruit. Another favourite among many attendees was dipping the chocolate brownies in even more chocolate!

Before the women headed off to the ballroom to enjoy the rest of the day’s events, the team handed out postcards and talked to guests about the Festival. If the chocolate fountains tempted these women’s tastebuds, then we knew they would enjoy all the chocolate at our events in the fall.

Thank you to all of our volunteers who made this event a success and to April Chan for capturing the excitement of the day in her photographs.

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Meet the newest addition to the Chocolate Festival’s Summer Intern Team, Hifsa Arshad.

Formerly from Oregon, USA, Hifsa Arshad currently resides in the Newton region of Surrey, British Columbia where she has lived for the past 14 years. She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science with a concentration in Design at the School of Interactive Arts and Technology (SIAT) at Simon Fraser University. Upon graduation, she is considering pursing a master’s degree at the SIAT.

As an SFU Student Ambassador, Hifsa has volunteered at major events such as the annual SFU Surrey Open House and First Year In Focus. One of her hobbies is photography and some of her works were selected to be featured in the SFU Photo Show in 2009. The majority of her photographs are of events she volunteers at or places she travels to. Hifsa also enjoys drawing, reading, and playing badminton.

As the New Media Marketing and Graphic Design Intern, she is excited to join the West Coast Chocolate Festival 2010 team. This will be an excellent opportunity for her to build friendships and marketing skills to compliment her design skills. Hifsa looks forward to making this year’s festival a hit!

• Human Resources Manager: Chelsea Reeves
• Administrative Coordinator: Julie Smith

Read their individual posts and check out their photos below.

Born and raised in North Vancouver, Chelsea enjoys many of the outdoor activities the North Shore has to offer. She particularly loves spending time in Deep Cove and hiking the trails up to Quarry Rock. In her spare time, Chelsea enjoys cooking, reading, volunteering, and travelling. She spent six weeks last summer travelling through France, Italy and Greece and she plans to return to Europe soon to embark on new adventures.

In the future, she plans to pursue a career in Human Resources and her areas of interest include training and development, employee engagement, performance management, and sustainability. Upon graduating from SFU, she plans to obtain the Certified Human Resources Professional designation.

Chelsea is very excited to be a part of this year’s team and is looking forward to a fun and successful festival!

Julie Smith is originally from Calgary, Alberta, and has lived in South Surrey, British Columbia for the past eight years. For six years of her life she also lived in Oakville, Ontario. Travelling across the country has allowed her to develop an appreciation for Canada’s diverse range of cultures.

One thing that has stayed with her throughout her travels is her love of sports; specifically, skiing, soccer, and field hockey. She has been on the local women’s field hockey team, the Surrey Sharks, for the last five years. Being involved with this community team helps her feel like she is part of another family.

Julie has attended Kwantlen Polytechnic University for the past three years. She completed her Diploma in Business Management in May 2010 and will be applying to complete her Bachelor of Business Administration in the Human Resource Management program for fall 2010. Her future goal is to be part of a company as a Human Resource manager.

She has recently been hired in the role of Administrative Coordinator with the Chocolate Festival. To be part of the festival is an amazing experience for her. She hopes it will aid her in achieving her future goals and allow her to apply the skills that she has ascertained from her past experiences.

New to the Chocolate Festival is the Tealicious Chocolate, the first of two events was scheduled at The Gathering Place in Port Coquitlam.  The Gathering Place in the Leigh Square Community Arts Village was named as such for community members to converge.  In this case, it was the combination of two classic delights of tea and chocolate that brought people together.  The bright, airy room at The Gathering Place was the perfect venue to do so.

The event was led by Tealicious owner and tea sommelier Nancy Prokosh, with David Hooey and Christina Ostenstad from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory providing the sweets from their stores in Lougheed Town Centre in Burnaby and Park Royal Shopping Centre in West Vancouver.  The Tealicious Tea Company was first established in 2000 and delivers fine tea to the Vancouver, New Westminster, Burnaby and the Tri-City area.

Tea is often misconstrued as just another ordinary drink but it is a beverage that can be savoured.  The proper way to taste tea begins with the sense of smell.  This is done by gently blowing on a heap of tea leaves and then inhaling deeply.  The mixture of the smell is to be enjoyed with the taste sensations of the tea.  When eaten with chocolate, the chocolate should first coat the mouth and allowed to melt.  It can then be tasted with a sip of tea to let the flavours mingle.

A myriad of teas were available for the afternoon’s tasting session.  Four types of chocolates (white, milk, semi-sweet and bittersweet) were paired with eight types of tea, two teas per chocolate.  The initial white chocolate was paired with Dragon Well Green Tea and Meghma Honey Oolong.  Both were light and mild tasting that seemed to enhance the creaminess of the white chocolate.  Milk chocolate was paired with Sencha Green and Nilgiri.  Sencha green tea is a Japanese tea that is made without the grinding of tea leaves.  Instead, it is steamed that gives it a very grassy flavour and a golden-green color.  Semi-sweet chocolate was paired with Boisahabi Assam and Namring Estate Darjeeling.  The Boisahabi Assam, from the Assam region of India, was a rich golden color with a bit of astringency.  The bittersweet chocolate was paired with Koomsong and Lapsang Souchong teas.  Lapsang Souchong was the tea that stood out the most for its distinctive, strong smell.  Originally from the Chinese province of Fujian, it is a black tea with a smoky smell and flavour that is reminiscent of a campfire.

However, the vibrant energy of young Team Chocolate volunteers with unwavering enthusiasm was what really brought life to the event.  It served as a reminder the true goal of the chocolate festival is to empower youth through mentorship initiatives in various festival projects.

Thanks to Nancy Prokosh of Tealicious Tea Company, David Hooey and Christina Ostenstad of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Yvonne Chui of Leigh Square Community Arts Village for sponsoring the event.  The second Tealicious Chocolate Tasting takes place on November 8 at Heritage Tea House in Port Moody.  Tickets are still available at www.vtixonline.com/event.php?event_id=126