Prof Wije Ariyaratne

Our 37 th Winter Ball was held on 11 September 2010 at the Grand Ball Room of the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth Hotel. Winter Ball has been a very special event for majority of our members since the birth of the Association in 1973.

Originally the committee planned to hold this year's Winter Ball on 28 August 2010. Subsequently when the committee became aware that the date was in the middle of the Ramadan celebrations, it decided to postpone the dance to 11 September, the only Saturday available this year at the Sofitel. However, 11 September coincided with a Sri Lankan wedding resulting in a number of regular patrons of the Winter Ball not being able to attend the dance. They were missed by all of us.

Sri Lanka Consul General Mr Daya Fernando, in his speech said that he was greatly honoured to attend the Winter Ball and thanked the Association for the support extended to him when he came here to settle in Sydney quickly. The High Commissioner for Sri Lanka in Australia, Hon. Senaka Walgampaya PC and Mrs Walgampaya were invited to the function but they were unable to attend due to last minute change of circumstances. The Mayor of Hornsby Shire, Mr Nick Berman was also an invitee and he mingled and enjoyed the evening with the members.

The function was a great success with around 240 guests attending the dance. The dance floor was full through out the evening with the young and the old dancing away to the continuous fabulous music of the nine-piece band “Fusion”. DJ “Nightwalkers” ably filled the only break taken by the Band with the “Baila” music. In fact some of the patrons gave calls to the committee the following day to thank the committee for organising such a great show and express how much they enjoyed the dinner dance. Some of the major contributing factors for the success of the event were the superb venue, good food and service provided by Sofitel Sydney Wentworth Hotel, fabulous music by “Fusion” Band and DJ “Nightwalkers”, the very dynamic compeering by Aubrey Joachim and Krishan Lye and the support given to the Association by our sponsors, advertisers and the well- wishers in providing us with items for the raffle draw and the auction.

We extend all of them our sincere thanks for the success of the dance.

A big thank you goes to the President Dr Nimal Edirisinghe and his lovely wife Rukshi, the Committee Members and their spouses for all their untiring efforts to make this dance a great success.

We express our sincere thanks to all those who attended the dance and created such a wonderful and warm atmosphere. It was their attendance and participation year after year that made it possible for us to keep the Winter Ball as a high quality function enjoyed by all. We hope to see you all at the next year's dance in full strength and enjoying better than ever.

Click here to view a full album of photos from this gala event. (Photos were delayed due to transmission glitch in Sydney)