Adults will be launching the Christmas party season on Tuesday, but the Hotel Eldorado Innkeeper's Seasonal Celebration is focused on the babies at Kelowna General Hospital.
The extended Nixon family has decided that the proceeds from the 23rd annual celebration will outfit one of KGH's labour and delivery department rooms. The room will have a new radiant warmer and up-to-date maternity furnishings, creating a more upscale hotel environment for families.
Proceeds from the celebration, now more than $500,000, initially went to the Kelowna Hospice Association, but the family's attention turned to the maternity ward after Carolyn Nixon, daughter of hotel owner Jim Nixon, gave birth to daughter Piper on Jan. 30, 2012.
The second generation of Nixons, four with young kids born in the maternity ward, was looking for new projects, explained Brad Sieben, hotel general manager and son-in-law to Jim Nixon.
"We're all going down that path and we figured it would be a nice touch if we could make it more like a hotel stay. A lot of the big projects at the hospital have been completed so we can enhance something else. And it ties in well with what we do from an industry standpoint."
Family members had a chance to see all the recent changes to KGH when they visited Carolyn earlier in the year.
"I think the hospital does an amazing job. The staff there, in particular, are amazing. And the Kelowna General Hospital Foundation does an amazing job," said Sieben.
"At times, it is a busy place and you're in a room with multiple people. I know the Kelowna Rockets have done a specialty room there. I figured it would be a good fit if we could add a private room that has a bit more of an upscale hotel feel to the mix."
Jim's son, Kyle, and Kyle's wife, Carolyn, now have two children with older daughter, three-year-old Quinn. Sieben and his wife, Karlee (Nixon), are expecting another child in May to add to sons Kennedy, 7, and Coulter, 3. All of those grandchildren were born at KGH. Two other grandchildren were born elsewhere.
Hosted by the Nixon family and the staff of the Hotel Eldorado, the 23rd annual celebration has a series of food stations created by award-winning chef Derek Bendig, a selection of wine and cocktails from local proprietors, DJ entertainment and dancing 6:30 p.m.-
10 p.m. All staff donate their time and vendors their products.