North Bay mayor Vic Fedeli was proclaimed the “Man of the Hour” at a sold-out Roast & Toast Celebration, held at the Davedi Club on Oct. 14.
After a seven-year term, Fedeli will be stepping down to retire from his corner office. He was surrounded by hundreds of colleagues, friends and family.
Scott Clarke was the emcee for the evening, along with a panel of roasters which included George Burton, Lesley Lovett-Doust, Ben Farella, Jimmy Kolios, Patty Fedeli, Chuck Kelly, Greg Estabrooks, Peter Chirico, and Dave Mendicino.
Fedeli was applauded for his many successes in North Bay, and for making North Bay a better place to live. Clarke also read some letters of congratulations from Monique Smith, Mike Harris and Sudbury's mayor John Rodriguez.
There were several comments about Mayor Vic's trademarks: his famous yellow ties and his cowboy boots.
Yellow painted the Davedi Club, with yellow bouquets at the entrance; the wait staff wore yellow ties; the centre pieces had beautiful yellow candles and flowers; while the table placard was shaped as a black and white tuxedo, with the menu inside and a yellow tie hanging in front.
The roast wrapped at 11 p.m., closing with the Mayor's turn to roast back many in the audience. “Now that's how you roast,” Fedeli said.
He also thanked his mom for keeping him grounded, and knew that his dad would be proud watching over tonight.
First elected in 2003, Fedeli made good on an early election promise to serve no more than two terms as mayor.
The former owner of Fedeli Advertising was a driving force behind creating an aerospace industry in the Gateway City before entering politics.
An immensely popular figure, he brought an entrepreneurial mindset to city hall and presided over an unparallel period of growth in the northeastern Ontario community.
His unique style of out-of-the-box thinking through his Boxing Day Mayor's Think Tank, an ingenious 'Buck-An-Acre' program to sell vacant industrial land, and a campaign to slash industrial and commercial property taxes, lead to an unprecedented period of construction activity.
Thank you, Mayor Vic, for supporting our programs and services over the years at Northern Ontario Business. It was a pleasure to work with you during the Northern Ontario Business Awards and to co-host the 40 Under Forty Awards, celebrating North Bay's up-and-coming leaders.
Your leadership and business style, even in those cowboy boots, will surely be missed. Best of luck to you and Patty with your endeavours in the next chapter of your life.
Kimberley Wahamaa
Event Manager
Northern Ontario Business
