Mike Balsom
With a crowd of up to 8,000 expected on Queen Street in Niagara-on-the-Lake on August 9 for the A & R Solutions Niagara 5000, some of the VIPs and celebrities involved will need a place for respite and recharging. That’s where the luxurious Scotsman Hotel comes into play.
Organizer Alana Hurov has planned a private, invitation-only paddock party at the new elite hotel owned by Brenda and Blair McArthur. Celebrities Jeanne Beker, Sangita Patel, Pooja Handa and Rick Campanelli as well as the event sponsors and the owners of the luxury car dealerships participating will have a chance to relax at the exclusive new inn on Johnson Street that opened earlier this year.
“It’s perfect because it flows so beautifully,” says Scotsman owner Brenda McArthur. “We have a beautiful patio so they can enjoy the outside. We’ll have lots of great appetizers, they will enjoy some live music, and they’ll have access to the bar area inside. It will be an incredible atmosphere.”
McArthur also sees it as a chance for the Scotsman to make an impression on the elite GTA crowd for the first time.
“We’ve had a few open houses for the locals here who have been watching the whole process,” says McArthur. “We haven’t had a really big splash for the Toronto people yet, though. The people coming to the paddock party will be the type of clientele who would enjoy staying here and would appreciate the surroundings.”
Hurov was one of the locals who visited the Scotsman for one of those open houses and immediately realized it was the perfect place for the paddock party.
“As soon as I saw it I knew I had to partner with them for the Niagara 5000,“ Hurov tells The Local. “I contacted Brenda and she was on board so I went to council to get permission for it. It’s the most beautiful, stunning property, a perfect fit for the type of clients who will be attending.”
Another partnership Hurov developed is with Scott Galbraith of TD Bank, the paddock party’s sponsor. Scott’s wife Sonya is the vice chair of the board at Cassie and Friends, the juvenile arthritis charity for whom funds are being raised through the two days of events for the A & R Solutions Niagara 5000.
“We’ve been involved with Cassie and Friends for at least six years,” says Galbraith. “Our son Nicholas has JIA ( juvenile idiopathic arthritis). He was diagnosed with it at seven months old. So we heard through Cassie and Friends that this event was going on.”
Galbraith was later having lunch with a client who had brought his McLaren to last year’s event on Queen Street. The client confirmed that it was a very well-organized rally, so he contacted Hurov, and was immediately impressed with the work she had put in for this year.
The vice president-commercial for the Hamilton, Brantford and Niagara regions says it was immediately something he really wanted to get behind from both a personal and a business perspective. He’ll be hosting about 14 of his clients at the paddock party.
It was also easy for Hurov to get celebrity Rick Campanelli to come on board.
The current CHFI radio afternoon co-host is a 1994 Brock University physical education graduate, so a visit to Niagara is a bit like coming home.
It was while at Brock that the affable Burlington resident filled out an application for a summer internship at MuchMusic. He won the contest and over the summer of 1994 became known as ‘Rick the Temp’, a moniker that he still loves to hear from people who recognize him on the street.
The hard-working Campanelli turned the internship into a permanent position as a VJ when Steve Anthony left the station, and stayed there until 2005, when he moved on to ET Canada. Along the way he met and became friends with Hurov, whose previous career was as a television producer.
“Alana invited us last year but we couldn’t make it,” says Campanelli. “I’m pumped. I love cars. My parents and older siblings and I have been going to Formula 1 races since I was a kid. It’s going to be amazing to see all these flashy sports cars. And I love Niagara-on-the-Lake.”
Campanelli will be bringing his wife Angie and their three sons Noah (19), Jack (10) and Harrison (8) along for the ride.
The still youthful-looking 54-year-old is looking forward to reconnecting with Beker, who he used to run into often in his days working at the CHUM-City building in Toronto. He’ll also rub shoulders with his CHFI colleague Handa and Patel, a former host of ET Canada.
Hurov adds that after the street party and the paddock party ends, the VIPs and celebrities will be gathering for an after party at an undisclosed location.
The paddock party is exclusive but there are still tickets available for the Thursday night official opening night party at Peller Estates Winery. The ticket includes a three-course dinner paired with Peller wines, an open bar, live music, and dancing under the stars. Of course, some of the cars that will line Queen Street Friday will be there as well.
“It’s all going to be pretty spectacular,” Hurov says.
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