12 December, 2010 | Saint Francis Xavier Feast Celebration (held December 5, 2010)

The weather cooperated and it was a beautiful December afternoon. Thanks to Father Jack Dias. The 3pm mass was wonderful with three priests celebrating mass, and one playing the violin in the choir, and they did a superb job.Thank you all. Mass was very well attended.

Attendance at the bazaar beat all expectations, and unfortunately, the food vendors ran out early. A big thank you to our entertainers on stage, Annabelle Francis and her group, and Oswaldo and Sandra for some great music.

Congratulations to Villa Pinto and Heather Martin for organizing the cookbook table, where they collected an amazing $524.00 which was handed over to Father Jack to pass on to the Pillar Sisters in Goa. This is in addition to a $1000.00 also donated to the Pillar Sisters for 2010 from the G.O.A.

A very special thanks to our community members who were so supportive and who generously donated baked goods, sweets and food towards the fundraiser.

Special thanks to Carol D'sa for selling raffles tickets. The raffles generated $200 !,
Thank Vega D'Mello for doing the beautiful poster
Jackie Rozario and Roger Martin for doing the cooking demonstration.
The Cookbook Committee (Heather Martin, Cory Correia and Villa Pinto) for doing such an amazing fund raiser.

And thanks to all who attended and so generously bought all the items.

28 November, 2010 | Extraordinary General Meeting (held October 3, 2010)

Thank you to the members in attendance for their valued input and discussion. The newly approved bylaws include the formation of a trustee committee to oversee the slow but sure growth in association assets.

Trustee elections will take place at the AGM in March 2011. Any member in good standing is welcome to forward his/her name to the executive committee for election to this committee.

Thank you to the bylaw subcommittee - Peter Fernandes, Ernie Fernandes, Dilip Athaide, Mike Sequeira for their speedy efficient submission of recommendations.

Thank you also to the exec. committee members - Anu, Doris, Sam for the meatballs, batatawara, and chutney sandwiches, and to Robyn Correia for working the kitchen, Elsa D'lima for kindly volunteering to take minutes at the meeting, and Anu for arranging hall key and set-up.

25 November, 2010 | Nite in Goa 2010

This time the venue was at a different and better location. The Dynamix band kept everyone rocking and they were excellent. Everyone was on the floor dancing the night away. Too bad all these locations have these small dance floors, but we are sure that all attendees enjoyed themselves. It was wonderful to see all of you, and the feedback we have received from many is very positive and underlies the fact that it was an enjoyable evening for all. We are also grateful to our many sponsors for their continued support again this year.

Our young members Fedora Furtado and Angela Rodrigues were the proud recipients of the GOA Annual Scholarship awards for their exemplary academic achievement and their active commitment to the betterment of our community. The cheques were awarded to them by Villa Pinto and Cory Correia. Another highlight of the evening was Elsa D’Lima receiving the GOA Community Service award of the year for her invaluable service to our members and the community at large.

The excellent entertainment included Doris Amaral singing goan songs which take us back to all the memories of beautiful Goa and our mother tongue Konkani. La Riva Filipino dance troupe were great with their ethnic bamboo dance and the youngsters surprised us with their singing and dancing. As always our Goan dancers - Maura and her talented group entertained us with the Portuguese dance. They were all so colorful and we had most of our people tapping their feet & swaying their bodies to the music.

All of us together raised a whopping $617.00 for the Goa Pillar Sisters donation which will be handed over to Father Jack, who was also present for the show. We would like to thank Fr. Nixon, Fr. Christopher, Fr. Jack and Fr. Nelson for gracing the occasion. A big thank you to all who participated in making this show a grand success. WE, as a team did it again this year, creating a memorable showcase of Goan culture for our goan and non-goan family and friends.

Our guest of honor Mr. Mohan Bhandari and his family arrived early and stayed to the end. One could see that he was on the dance floor enjoying himself to the rhythm and beat of "the Dynamix". The winner of the scotch bottle was Joe Pinto. Our Master of ceremonies Mr. Doug Nazareth as usual kept things moving along nicely all evening.

Anne DaSilva once again surprised us with her very creative table decorations reminding us of "amchem Goa". Many door prizes were given out and the exciting one was that two of the attendees namely John Carinha & Anne Dcruz won a paid membership for the year 2011. The mutton xacuti was the authentic Goan dish served at the show, prepared by a couple of our members who wish to remain anonymous. Genuine community commitment, and we applaude you.

A special thank you to Crystal Ann Fernandes, Jennifer Sales, Tony Sales & Doris Amaral, for the gifts donated towards the Nite in Goa.

All in all a big thank you to all the volunteers who were selling the bar tickets, people cooking, troupe dancing & excellent decorations.

An excellent turn out by the youth in our community, members and non-members.

20 November, 2010 | Summer Picnic

Members and friends,

The weather was great, the venue was excellent, and although the crowd didn’t show up till after the World Cup finals, those that did come out had a good time.

Many thanks to the three food vendors: Alan Saldanha, Roger and Leena Sahai, Anna and Edward Soares (Kaitlyn's Kitchen) for the good selection and variety of food, and for their help in the GOA fund raising effort.

I would also like to thank Rey D'Cunha and Robyn Correia (Bingo), and Audra Lobo (Kids Games) as well as all those that volunteered - volleyball referees and committee members.

Two free lunch tickets were awarded to Lisa and Angela for being the first to arrive at the picnic.

A big thank you to Alan Saldanha for his donation of the Annual GOENKAR Cup for Picnic Volleyball. The volleyball games began at 1pm and continued right up to 8 pm. The actual tournament started late (4:30pm) due to the preoccupation with the World Cup - six teams were vying for the Goenkar cup. It was round robin with six teams, best of 2 with the first to get to 7 points in the third game. Team E comprising of: Shrayan Mahra, Kevin Fernandes, Daniel Fernandes, Suraj Mahra, Trent D’Souza, and Clinton Gomes ended up winning the cup for 2010. Congratulations to all of them!

Other games included: Tug of War, Sack Racing and Bocchi (courtesy Ernie Fernandes). All enjoyed a game of bingo, with three prizes of $40, $25, and $15.

Those that came out and participated in the picnic definitely had a good time - give yourselves a pat on the back for involving yourselves with the association and your community.

27 November, 2009 | President's Message....

GOENKARARANCHEO DHIRIO
(GOAN UNITY)

It does not matter where we have come from. All that matters is where we are going.

For years, Goans migrated to every continent on the globe, finding social community and support from their Goan Association.

In Vancouver today, there are many Goans who have spent very little time in Goa, and some none at all. Most have adopted the habits and cultures of the places they emigrated from, and we now adopt a Canadian culture.

The common thread we all have, is our ancestral bond and the Goan Association. Although not everyone would agree that the Goan Associations are the anchor to which these communities are tethered, as it was and is all over the world, I would say, it is.

There are a great many who ask "what is the Association doing for me" and few who say "what can I do for my fellow Goans". I hope you all will reflect and realize that without this Association, you might not have met some of the friends you now have.

I ask you to support your Goan Association, even if all you do is join the membership and pay your fees. The intangible benefits you will reap will outweigh the negative.

We are equally glad to have you all regardless of which part of the world you came from, and I hope all your contributions help to make this a more tolerant, stronger, better, and vibrant Goan Association.

We must have a long term goal to keep us from being held back by short term differences.

Our thanks to all the donors in this brochure, especially those who continue to support us year after year.

Sam Correia, President