Saints of the Century: Revisiting La Belle Époque

Shining, shimmering splendour.

At this year’s annual Saints Charity Ball, Trinity College met the fantastical lavishness of La Belle Époque for a magical evening. At St. Hilda’s on Saturday November 8th, we opened our eyes and our hearts to the warm embrace that is turn-of-the-century Paris. Our two co-chairs Rhiannon Langford-Kyle and Max Laurin, along with much assistance from their executive, managed to successfully recreate the zeitgeist of the era.

Saints of the Century was described as “an era exploding; a festival to celebrate the onslaught of innovation,” by the event’s chairs. Months of preparation preceded the first formal of the year. Head of Decorations Jane Mochina, among several others, spent countless hours of planning and crafting decorations in the dark, desolate, dreary abyss known as sub-Cartwright. Its exact location remains unknown to this day.

The extensive time and efforts put forth by numerous committee members and volunteers, like Rachel Copp Clark, collectively allowed for the event to be a grand success. “I painted literally a million polka dots, but Jane made everything fantastic,” exclaimed Rachel. The event would not have been made possible were it not for the dedication of these passionate students.

The proceeds from this year’s Saints of the Century will be donated to support a local charity, SKETCH, which is geared towards bettering the City of Toronto’s disadvantaged through the arts. SKETCH began as a project of artist Phyllis Novak, and has since grown to provide children and adolescents the chance to explore their creative side in a safe setting. The organization offers the opportunity to experiment in fields ranging from theatre, to the culinary arts, to digital media, and maintains a strong emphasis on equality and inclusivity in all its activities. In fostering such a positive environment for people to grow, SKETCH is creating more involved and socially conscious citizens, working towards improving our society as a whole.

Fine examples of involved, socially conscious citizens could also be found on the night of the Saints Rush Carnival. Filled with exotic beasts, entrancing beats, and eccentric characters of all sorts, the night was undoubtedly one of marvel. All who came bore witness to the Buttery’s transformation: from a dreary eatery to a captivating carnival of wonder, painted in a myriad of vivid colours and stripes.

This Rush followed the format of more recent rushes. Those wishing to participate were escorted outside by the carnival’s ringleader, played by Keanu Uchida, and divided between those wishing to be rushed and those wishing to rush someone. Lined up at opposite sides of the parking lot outside, participants scrambled to find their desired dates once the clock tolled midnight. Although some people spent the next morning trying to piece together their nights and figure out who they actually rushed, the event nevertheless went off without a hitch. The only alarm of the night was St. Hilda’s fire alarm, which went off at four o’clock in the morning thanks to an over-microwaved muffin.

In the week leading up to Rush, the Saints executive also managed to successfully initiate a game of ‘Spy vs. Spy’ and raise additional funds for the charity. The objective of the game was to track down the target one was assigned, hunt he or she down, and kill them by the gruesome hand of a sock or dull spoon. The results of the game are not yet known; the game itself could quite possibly be ongoing. The executive hopes that it did not leave anyone in a perpetual state of paranoia, but thank all for their participation.

Saints week began on Monday evening, when Massey Common exploded with an exceptional exhibition of the senses. The halls echoed with melodic symphonies from the old-time cabarets and music halls of the Golden Age; the alluring scent of freshly baked Famoso pizza overcame the questionable odour ingrained in Massey House. This chorus of voices emanated from the sultry karaoke styling of individuals such as first year representatives Andreas Kyriakos and Keanu Uchida, the latter performing a scarily accurate rendition of Fergie’s “Fergalicious.”

Cartwright Carnival set up shop Tuesday afternoon, featuring an abundance of games any carnie would love. The pièce de resistance that day was a glorious 14-foot-tall bouncy castle that could take one back to a time when midterms were a distant future and one had never heard of Strachan food. To quote first-year Katie Fettes, “It was the happiest I have been in a really long time. Definitely the highlight of my week.”

The lavishness of La Belle Époque was highly pronounced at this week’s high table dinner. Diners indulged in a succulent coq-au-vin as well as an assortment of French-inspired chocolate treats. A representative from SKETCH spoke at dinner, thanking the college for its contribution. The unequivocal highlight of the eventing was when Rol, a young aspiring musician, spoke about her incredible experience with the organization.

Following high table, Melinda Seaman hosted Saint’s’ Trivia Night and the Lit debate. This year’s Trivia Night gave way to a new era with Julien Ferland and Marcus Tutert, who took the throne from reigning champion Guy Taylor. That night’s resolution kept with the Parisian theme of Saints, where debaters argued over whether it be resolved that “Honhonhonhonhonhonhonhon baguette honhonhon.” Feature debaters included Co-Chair Rhiannon Langford-Kyle and Head of Food & Drink Emily Brade for the Government, as well as Kendra Dempsey and Jennifer Whyte for the Opposition. That night, attendees learnt that Kiga’s love of birds is only matched by Kendra’s fear of them, and that – to Rhiannon’s dismay – Pinterest boards do have a maximum capacity. “Getting to speak at the Lit’s Saints Debate was great, except for the fact that Kaleem Hawa didn’t even bother showing up. I mean, this is for charity. That’s so inconsiderate,” said Kendra.

Melinda Seaman turned into the famous Parisian cabaret Folies Bergere on Thursday night. Members of the Saints of the Century executive sold a variety of donated baked goods and tickets for the raffle, which included over $700 worth of prizes, to collect additional funds to donate for the charity. The performances were stellar and gave for a phenomenal representation of all the talent Trinity College fosters, although there were several performers whose talents were unknown to many. Trinity College was also privileged to have Rol feature as the night’s opening act, demonstrating her impressive musical abilities. The young artist expressed her love and respect, saying that “Trinity is too dope.” Bosi Moragia and Minha Lee were the last to perform at coffeehouse. “Going last wasn't ideal, but the energy in the room was still buzzing, so it turned out great,” Bosi explained. Their performance was a spectacular close to the evening. The crowd cheered in adoration at the harmonious duet that performed with much confidence and emotion. Minha commented, “Bosi and I had just talked about making music together when I heard about the Saints coffeehouse. It was such a great experience to perform for the Trinity community and to support SKETCH!”

The night of Saints itself was one to remember. Cartwright Hall housed the Moulin Rouge-themed dance area, draped in luxurious red satin curtains and covered by a tent made of helium balloons. Guests made their way to the Abbott Room, which was decorated with a Moroccan influence; there, people could have their photos taken and have evidential proof that they had, in fact, made it to Saints at some point during the night. The bar and lounge area was located in Melinda Seaman, where a wide array of exquisite desserts and pastries, as well as savoury hot foods were available.

Being a member of the executive was an incredibly insightful introduction to the internal workings and planning of events at Trinity College. Like any other large event, certain unexpected challenges arose; however, after skilful problem solving and a couple sleepless nights, the group nevertheless managed to procure a splendid ball. Seeing all the work put forth come together to materialize into what was once only a vision was a truly rewarding experience. The immense amount of thought and attention to detail put into the entirety of this year’s Saints most certainly did not go unnoticed or unappreciated. To all of those who contributed in some means, I thank you on behalf of the executive. Every one of us was working towards raising the most we could for such a phenomenal cause like SKETCH. The painstaking efforts most certainly paid off and I would not have had it any other way.