BETSY KLINE
Castlegar News
Over 200 women attended the Find Your Divine event in Castlegar last week. The evening was filled with great food, informative displays, inspiration and lots of laughs.
Many women were moved by CTV anchor Tamara Taggart’s speech. Taggart shared her trials and triumphs in dealing with the Down syndrome diagnosis of her son and her own battle with gastrointestinal stromal tumor cancer.
As a fellow cancer survivor, local resident Lesley Killough was pleased to get to meet Taggart. “To me it was great, as I also have GIST cancer like Tamara had,” she said. “So I knew what a good advocate she was for it. It was really good to hear her story and how positive she is. How to move forward in life and be your own advocate. I really enjoyed it. It was a real privilege.”
Others were similarly impressed.
“She’s very real,” said Leona Rizzotti. “She is a celebrity ... she spoke from the heart and made everyone think about whatever situation we are in we need to act on it and not just settle for what we are doing if it is not right.”
“I found Tamara absolutely inspirational,” said Charlotte Ferreux. “I found she brought a lot of humour to her talk on a very serious topic. Just bringing us back to a place of choosing happiness every single day.
“Putting the importance back on what is really important, which is our families, and the people we love around us. We can get caught into being distracted by our jobs and other things that are happening in our lives, and that is not what is really important.”
Jo-Ann Bursey said the evening left her “reflective. Thinking a lot about my own situation. Definitely empowered. Overall it was pretty amazing.”
“I think it went fabulously well,” said Darlene Kalawsky. “It was a really good opportunity for girls and women in Castlegar to get out and have the chance to see Tamara. I think Tamara was absolutely fabulous. I heard the comments that people really enjoyed her. She was very normal and they could really relate to her. I think it is a great event that Black Press should keep doing.”
Divine decorating by Home Goods.
Fellow cancer survivor Lesley Killough was encouraged by Tamara's speech.
Fabulous Food.
Visitors at the Gift Box table were treated to fine chocolates.
Taggart and Darlene Kalawski
Appetizers from Kim's Creations.
A sold out audience listens to Taggart's speech.
Even the sponsors had a great time.
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