It is hard to believe we are already halfway through 2021. As we wrapped up the month of May, over 50 branch presidents, local branch board members and designates gathered online for our second (and we hope our last) virtual Annual General Meeting. We were thrilled to connect across the country, and efficiently work through all business matters such as passing bylaw updates and voting for the 2020 and 2021 Chef of the Year. We also held an election for the position of National Treasurer. Heartfelt thanks to Mark Davie, our outgoing National Treasurer for his considerable efforts during his term. Congratulations and a very warm welcome to our new National Treasurer David Franklin from CF London as he joins the National Board of Directors for the next two years.

Before we take a little summer break from monthly newsletters, meetings, and live streams we have a few very exciting things coming up this month. First, we have our third episode of our SYSCO'S Virtual Kitchen, Culinary Federation In the Field Series on June 22^nd at 11am Central Time with Mclhenny and TABASCO. We will be travelling to Avery Island, Louisiana to tour the chili pepper fields, aging barrel room and more! Canadian Corporate Chef (and our National President) Ryan Marquis will be in attendance as well as Mclhenny representatives. Tune in live on our Culinary Federation Facebook Page.

The very next day (June 23^rd) we have our highly anticipated Virtual Awards Ceremonies. Our theme this year is "Remembering & Rebuilding." Since we were unable to have our National Conference for the past two years due to covid-19, we will be celebrating both 2020 and 2021 award nominees and recipients. We are thrilled to have our favourite emcee Rocco Paradiso on board to host us. We also have a very special and inspirational keynote speaker, Chef Michael Thrash, that you will not want to miss. We will be streaming the awards ceremonies live from SVK's platform as well, and you will be able to tune in with a variety of options – Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn. Details on time zones can be found below.

We hope you will have time over the summer months to rest and spend time with loved ones. We look forward to re-connecting in September over the launch of some exciting new offerings, stay tuned!

As always, thank you for your continued support and membership, if there is anything you want to discuss regarding the Culinary Federation and your membership experience, please contact me at president@culinaryfederation.ca

Thank you,

Ryan Marquis
National President