Dance With Jenna

Today would have been Jenna’s Birthday. I always use this day to reflect and think about how knowing Jenna, even for a brief time, made my life so much better. I remember her pretty face and the light she brought into any place she came. It’s hard to believe that we lost this amazing girl over 4 years ago. Since she passed many things have changed. Lots of happy events happened (and even some scary/sad things). We completed the goal of building a memorial garden at the Markham Museum and I encourage everyone to go visit this Museum. As well, some of you finished school, got amazing jobs, moved around, got married, had new bundles of joy 🙂 and we all wish that Jenna was around for all of these. But for me, I feel that she is always with us and is shining that bright light on us.

I hope that everyone can use this day to let the happiness in and look around to see “so many beautiful things” around them.

I recently posted some photos from the Memorial and Opening of Jenna’s little spot at the Markham Museum. You can check them out on the Facebook Page.

If anyone else has some photos from the day, please upload them to the facebook page or upload them to the gallery here. As well, you can also email them to me @ margs.l[at]gmail.com if you prefer.

Now we can all go at anytime to visit the Markham Museum and be close to our dear Jenna at any time. As you can see from the photos the Museum is located on a large plot of wilderness where you are bound to catch some critters and see something interesting.

Just a reminder that the garden memorial will have it’s official opening tomorrow at the Markham Museum.

Markham Museum is located at:

9350 Hwy. 48 (Markham Rd.)
Markham, ON
L3P 3J3

(905) 294-4576

North of 16th Avenue on the West side of Markham Road.

Looking forward to seeing you!

Thanks to all the wonderful people that have purchased T-Shirts and auction items in the past as well as all the generous donations. I have updated the T-Shirt Store here with some new items and new colours that the T-Shirt website offers. I am also preparing some new designs in the future.

Again, any sort of proceeds will be donated to the Garden Fund or will be donated to the http://www.llscanada.org/

Keep your eyes peeled for the official opening of the Garden at the Markham Museum.

Keep on Dancing With Jenna!

Most of you have probably already heard that the August 26th event is being postponed until next year.

We look forward to making this the even better garden with the help of the City of Markham.

Below is a full note explaining the situation, hope to see you all next year! As well as our Light Up the Night walk this year in October.

Dear Friends & Family,

Mike Schryer

Thanks to all your help and well wishes Jenna’s Garden is finally on it’s way.

On Sunday August 26th we will be able to visit the garden in Jenna’s memory.

This Children’s Garden will be located at the Markham Museum.

More details to come!

Firstly, I would like to apologize for the lack of updates regarding the garden. I am not sure what exactly is happening with that. But I hope that one day we will be able to make this dream come true.

Secondly, I would like to bring something to mind that some of you may have not know about.

Kiva.org is a website/service that deals with microlending. For those that do not know what microlending and mircofinance you can watch this introductory video.

Currently Kiva is offering an introductory deal where you get $25 and select the person/project you would like to that $25 to go to.

The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Canada has set the date for this years Light Up The Night Walk.

We put together a great team in 2011 and this year we want to make it even better and bigger.

You can register early for it by March 15th, 2012 and you can get entered into a draw for a Dancap Productions gift certificate of $50.

Register Here

Exactly a year ago today we lost our Jenna-star so she could join the sky above. Everyday we miss her, every day we love her, everyday we think of her.

A New Path
by Nick Alcantara

All I wanted
Was to spend more time
With you
But what I got
Was only a precious few

At least I tried
To make the most
Of what was left
Plans diverted
Too many hurdles
Never made it
To desired stage

Sorry, not much choice
Although it hurts
Life must go on now

Even without you
I must continue
The life that never was
And forged ahead
A new path
Guided by your
Eternal light
And undoubting love
Forever you are always in our hearts.

We are organizing a Walk With Jenna.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada’s (LLSC) Light The Night Walk is the nation’s night to pay tribute and bring hope to all those affected by blood cancer. This fall, I will be joining thousands of people walking in twilight carrying illuminated balloons…

To benefit all 90,000 people affected by blood cancers in Canada.
All those that will be diagnosed every 34 minutes,
And those, who every 72 minutes, will die.

We will be walking for them, with them, and to benefit them. We will be walking in memory of our good friend Jenna who lost her battle. Will you walk with us?

You can also be part of the cure by kindly donating to our fundraising efforts.

Thank you for supporting me and the thousands of Canadians living with a blood cancer.

You can register your own name or you can donate to any person on our team. Everyone can walk but you do have to register to hold a balloon during the walk.

Our Fundraising Page

Here are the details for the walk – as you will notice the ceremony begins at 6:00pm and then the walk at 7:15pm so obviously you don’t have to come right at 5pm unless you are registered.

*If you have already registered online and/or you do not have money to turn in,
you do not need to check in at registration.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011
at Metro Hall (55 John Street)

5:30 PM– 7:00 PM – Night of Registration*, Donation Drop Off and Balloon Pick Up
5:30 PM– 7:00 PM – Food, Music and Games
6:00 PM – 6:30 PM – Remembrance Ceremony
7:15 PM – The Walk Begins!
8:00 PM – 9:00 PM – Post Walk Activities

Hello all,
We are sorry for the long wait between updates regarding the garden. You can read all about the progress HERE.

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer and that you are seeing Jenna’s golden hair and smiling face all around you!!

Every year the Canadian Cancer Society designates April as Daffodil Month. I am sure that many of you have or will see in the near future volunteers selling daffodils to raise money for cancer research. Next time you run into these nice people consider buying a daffodil in Jenna's name or whoever else has been affected by cancer.

You can read about Daffodil Month HERE. On their website you can read all about what they raise money for and how you can help either by donating or volunteering.

This is just to let you all know that the site will undergo maintenance on March 24, 2011 from 12:01AM to 3:00AM

Auctions will be offline during this period but the rest of the site will still be active and viewable.

We apologize for any inconvenience and will wait for your return after 🙂

(no, there’s not going to be any visually noticeable difference)

Cheers,

Liam

We just wanted to let you all know that our fundraising efforts have been going quite well. From the event, donations and auctions we have raised a little over 3,500.00 dollars. We cannot wait to plant this wonderful garden in Jenna’s name.

We wanted to thank all the people that came to the event, all the people that bid on auctions and all of the generous donations!

There are still a few auctions available to bid on.

Enjoy this Strawberry Shortcake video!

Yes, the auctions are still going on.

We have extended the times for some auctions and we have added a few more.

Two that may interest you are TFC games.

One vs. Houston:
LINK

Another vs. Philadelphia:
LINK

Check out this cute animation.

Do you have items that you received as gifts and will not be using? Do you have doubles of something that you don’t know what to do with?

You can donate them to us and maybe someone will bid and enjoy these items instead!

Contact us at contact@dancewithjenna.com or post on the facebook page.

2 Maple Leafs tickets (ends tomorrow at 12:49 p.m.)

XBox Game Package (ends Sunday at 9:00 a.m.)

Samsung Digital Photo Frame (ends Sunday at 12:47 p.m.)

Happy Bidding everyone!!

So this past weekend I had a great opportunity to attend The Grammys. I was able to see all of the great acts and dance to some great music. I brought Jenna with with me and she lit up my wrist the entire night (since the wristbands glow in the dark).

I wear my wristband all the time so Jenna can shine around me.

If anyone is interested in obtaining a wrist band, you can ask me next time you see me (Margaret) or email contact@dancewithjenna.com and we can arrange something. We will have some available during the garden planting too.

Microsoft Software package (ending Feb. 12 at 9:00 p.m.)

Thousand dollars worth of software!

Personalized Photography Session (ending Feb. 13 at 2:14 p.m.)

500 dollar value!

Enjoy bidding 🙂

Thanks for all the interest already. 🙂

I have recently found an amazing website about the wonderful gardens found all over the world.

Gardens to Visit from the Telegraph

They have a series of great articles about various things regarding gardens in the world.

For example:
Tips to visiting a garden on bicycle.

or
Best Winter Gardens to Visit

This site is centred mostly in the UK. But there are tidbits about worldwide gardens.

Gardens of Peace in New York

Big thanks to all that have already purchased t-shirts! You can add your picture wearing your shirt to the website. Or post it on the wall of the Facebook page (please suggest to your friends to ‘like’ the page).

If you haven’t yet, please check out the snazzy t-shirt section. 10 dollars from every t-shirt go to the fund!

Online resources for gardeners are vast. I would like to share one of these with you all. Since we want to make this memorial garden thrive and be as beautiful and awesome as Jenna was, we need to do some research.

I Can Garden is a website that connects people with their local horticultural clubs.

We are in Ontario where there are many different gardening clubs including the Markham Garden and Horticultural Society, the Toronto Master Gardeners and the intriguing Mad Gardeners Society. To search for clubs in your area, click on the Clubs Tab and search the list of clubs.

Happy Gardening and we hope to see some of you in helping plant our Jenna Garden!!

The auction for a VIP package at Footwork ends tonight at 9:00 p.m.

Very exciting.

VIP Footwork Auction

If you have trouble registering, please send us an email to contact@dancewithjenna.com and we will set up an account for you ASAP.

Just wanted to inform anyone that loves plants and particularily orchids should make a point to check out the Annual Valentine's Day Orchid show put on by the Southern Ontario Orchid Society. You will see some of the most beautiful orchid displays you have ever seen. Jenna would have loved this event. It really displays the beauty and awesomeness of nature around us. You will also see how many people in the City of Toronto love plants and particularily orchids, the crowds get very big at this annual show. Bring your best camera and you will get beautiful shots of these awesome plants. They also have beautiful orchids on sale at this event so if you want to pick one up for your collection make sure to check out the sale (they are quite addictive). I picked up the one above at this show last year.

Facebook Invite

Here is a link to a nice site that the Canadian Cancer Society has set up. You can plant a virtual flower where you live in support or memory of someone that has dealt with cancer.

CCS Daffodil Garden

This site and the event this past Saturday couldn't have happened without a huge team of people offering us donations and items for the auction and raffle.

Here is the long list of our donors of items and time.

Our website genius, Liam De Souza (http://www.elkdee.com) for setting up and maintaining this website with our constant badgering 😉 (if anyone requires website help, contact Liam)

Andrew McDonnell (Facebook Group), Aaron Mossey, Danny Flohback (Website), Mike Schryer and Carlos Moco (Mobius) for donating their equipment (Danny) and time to DJ at the event

Yasmine Wallace for the artwork that has become the image and face of Dance With Jenna

Keith Klassen for co-creation and performance of the Jenna Star song and video (Website)

Rachel Finan for donating TFC Tickets

Jeremy Maunder for donating the Samsung picture frame

RJ P. for donating Microsoft software and XBox games

Brian Buckley at Garth Industrial (leaf tickets)

Jon Jon at Footwork (http://footworkbar.com) for donating VIP package at Footwork

Anthony Leoni at Leoni Hair Design (gift cards and brushes)
370 Steeles Ave W, Thornhill, ON L4J 6X1

George Miller at MFS Realty Services (Leaf tickets)

Chris Kay Fraser for the donation of “Love Letters Aren’t Just For Lovers: an e-class journey into writing the letters in your heart.” Read more on the Website or on Facebook

Alex Soloviev for donating photography session (Flickr)

Darren Hall (Website) for donating pair of tickets to a SHEN (Sound-Healing-ENergy).Event featuring a Crystal Singing Bowl Performance.

Shay Benedict at 4ourty8ight for donating the vintage headband

Brynne Kennedy for donating beautiful photo artwork

Mrs. MacKenzie for providing handmade jewelry

Holiday Inn Toronto Airport East for the 2 night stay for two people

Frank Mancuso and The Guvernment (http://www.theguvernment.com) crew for obtaining PVD passes

Jason Yee and The Guvernment (http://www.theguvernment.com) crew for donating Family Day tickets

Oz Akgun and Vola (http://www.volanightclub.com) for donating Trance Event VIP package

Del at TranceAddict for letting us promote these wonderful prizes and event on his forum

Mendocino (gift cards)

And finally, Duggan’s Brewery for being the hosts with the most and letting us use their wonderful space for our event and being extremely accommodating and generous.

So let's make all this worth it and get bidding on our auctions!

Thanks to all the wonderful people that showed up on Saturday night at Duggan’s Brewery for our Dance With Jenna. We raised a lot of money, we had fun with so many wonderful friends and we danced our butts off with Jenna.

Our Virtual Garden.

To check out some of the photos so far, click here.

Here is a little video of us dancing at the end of the night.

…yeah!!

Tonight is the night for our Dance With Jenna!!

Hope everyone that cam make it comes and we will have a boogie dance off!!

You Should Be Dancing

What a Feeling it Will Be

Kick off Your Sunday Shoes

Cuz We Are Not Alone

One Match Stem Cell and Marrow Network, is a Canadian database you can enter to possibly be a match to save someone’s life with stem cells and marrow transplants. If you have been thinking about how to register but haven’t gotten around to it, here is your chance! It’s absolutely free. You fill out the survey to see if you are eligible to donate and if you are, you receive an envelope in the mail with cheek swabs which you will send back and enter the database. If you are a match for someone down the line, you will be contacted and you could save a life.

Please visit their website and read about what they do.

To all those that are coming tomorrow, we are all very excited to see you. Dancing shoes are already at the door!

…until we Dance With Jenna.

We just wanted to explain that we wanted to call this website and this event Dance WITH Jenna because we all feel that Jenna will forever dance with us in our minds and hearts. We can close our eyes and imagine she is in the stars dancing along with us.

If you have any questions regarding any of the functions on the website or are having problems registering to bid on the auctions please contact us. We are friendly! And we can walk you through exactly what you need to do.

Other than having a raffle with many amazing prizes, we will have a computer available at the event to help people with the bidding process.

Love you all!

I know some of you may still be hesitate to coming to the event at Duggan’s this coming Saturday but I wanted to notify all of you of the grand prize for the raffle we will be holding at the event.

You will have a chance to win a Maple Leafs grand prize package. It will be two tickets to a game against Carolina on February 3rd and a signed Leafs jersey. The total value is over 700 dollars!

The raffle ticket price will be 5 dollars a ticket or 3 for 10 dollars. Good luck winning!

Go Leafs Go!!

And Dance Jenna’s Friends Dance!!

And to top it all off there are many additional prizes that we will be in the raffle. So come one come all! Respond to the Facebook Invite.

We are overwhelmed with gratitude for all the wonderful donations for our raffle prizes and for all the auctions. Please check out the daily updated list of available items.

For example, today we have added a large selection of handmade jewelery and accessories.

Heart Necklace, Brown Necklace, earring and bracelet set, or a beautiful vintage headband.

Thanks to all the bidders!

We are all very excited!!

It is one week away from the Dance With Jenna Event at Duggan’s Brewery.

The venue is amazing, the guest will amazing, and the music will be amazing!

We look forward to having all of you joining us so we can all dance with Jenna together.

Thank you again to all that have visited the website, to all those that have participated in the auctions, all those that have bought a T-Shirt or Bag and all those that have responded to the invite.

Also, we are overwhelmed with the donations that we have received for the raffle and for the auction. It means so much when a group of people can get together and make something great happen!

It has been a pretty stressful week for us since we found out that on very short notice we didn’t have a venue for the January 22 event. But after a lot of phone calls and brain storming sessions, we have confirmed a new venue for our event. Thanks to Heidi’s research and leg work, we will be in the Cellar Room of Duggan’s Brewery. And yes they will have delicious fresh beer!

You can read about the story of Duggan’s Brewery here:
Duggan’s Brewery on blogTO

And you can check out the updated event flyer here:
Flyer

Thanks to all that have already responded to the Facebook invite and if you haven’t yet, please feel free to respond and also extend the invite to anyone you think will want to come.

We have created a Facebook invite for the event. Feel free to invite yourself if you didn’t get the invite through your own Facebook account. We welcome all!

Unfortunately, we are still waiting to confirm a new venue for the event but it will be downtown Toronto. Our previous venue was double booked and we had to scramble to find a place. But like we say, all things happen for a reason and out new venue will be great!

Facebook Invite

We just wanted to add that any merchandise and T-shirts purchased means more funds for the garden. All of the over cost profits go to the garden funds.

10 dollars from each T-shirt sale go towards the garden fund.

Thanks for your purchases!

T-shirts and Merchandise

We have opened a T-Shirt shop.

Check it out under the T-Shirts and Merchandise section.

Let us know if you have ideas for items too.

The T-Shirt shop is done by Wordans which is a Canadian company from Montreal. check out their website and explore for yourself the neat service they offer.

http://www.wordans.com

You can now check out the Auctions section on this website and bid on items you may like. We will be adding more items as we figure out the details.

Thanks for checking out the site.

Remember, you will need to register with this website to bid on any of the items.

Auctions

This is the website for the Markham Museum where Jenna worked. This facility is a 25-acre Open-Air Museum representing life from the 19th and early 20th centuries. Historic Homes and Businesses; a Land Transportation Exhibit; Historic Gardens; and an Apple Orchard bring the Museum to life as they celebrate Markham’s early settlers and its Natural Heritage.

There are many programs available throughout the year for kids and adults.

Markham Museum

Check out the Events section so you can see the flyer for the Fundraiser event we are holding on January 22nd.

We have some DJ’s that will be taking it back old school and want to know if anyone remembers any songs that they danced to with Jenna or even just a song that reminds them of her that they can play on Jan 22nd.

Please comment with your requests!!!

Many of you have already seen this but here is a video and original song written for Jenna.

Music and Lyrics – performed and written by: Keith Klassen
Artwork and Design by: Yaz Wallace and Heidijane Wallace
Video produced by: Keith Klassen
http://www.keithklassen.com/

Lyrics:
when i'm walkin in the park in May
i'll stop and scratch your name in the earth and clay,
i'll use my finger and write big JENNA RAE
and my dirty fingernail will make me smile all day,
then i'll stand and hug the nearest tree
happy that what you touched…touched me

and when i listen in that Jenna-way
i'll smile at birds a-singin and laughing kids at play,
i'll meet a dog waiting outside a coffee shop
i'll say 'who's a good boy, it's you, you're a good pup!'
then i'll scratch his soft forehead sweet spot
and say these pets are from me and a gal i love a lot

and when the night's a big dance floor
but my tired ass don't wanna dance no more,
a giggling in my ear won't let me quit
your voice will tell me 'keep on movin it!'
i'll reach my hands up t'wards the twinkling stars
and we'll dance together from afar

twinkle, twinkle Jenna star
i'm always with you where you are,
up above the world so high
on that dance floor in the sky
twinkle, twinkle Jenna star
we're all dancing with you where you are

If you can, listen to the song “when we dance lyrics by sting.”

Hey peeps,

Thanks to Karen’s suggestion, we have now added a new user based gallery. You can upload pics as you wish to share with visiters/users of this site.  You do, however, need to be a member of this site. Simply register on the site using facebook (click the ‘connect with facebook’ button)

Here is a short video of photos a friend of our made. Thanks to John Tang.

Since we are very new to running a website/blog! We may be slow on some of the updates. We will be slowly updating some of the basic information.

For now, when you dance, close your eyes and Dance With Jenna.