Carrie Underwood steals the spotlight at Sens fundraiser
OTTAWA — It was billed as an Ottawa Senators' fundraiser, but the star of Monday night's gala at the Hilton Lac-Leamy Convention Centre wasn't a hockey player.
Singer Carrie Underwood, fiancée of Sens star Mike Fisher, stole the spotlight at the 2010 Bell Sens Soirée fundraiser, the hockey club’s premier charity event of the year.
The fundraiser was expected to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for four local hospital foundations, Roger’s House, and Rotary Home.
It was the first official public event for Underwood, 26, and Fisher, 29, since their engagement on Dec. 21.
Underwood, in a demure black dress and sporting the engagement ring that jewelers estimate is worth $150,000, mingled with the players and hundreds of people who nibbled on exotic foods and tried their luck at plenty of carnival games.
Last year, the glitzy event raised $320,000 for charities.
The couple briefly served as celebrity dealers at one of the blackjack tables.
They were later applauded by the hundreds of guests as they made their splashy, red carpet entrance into the ballroom for dinner.
“They’re totally adorable and so down-to-earth,” said Dorothy Jackson, who was at the same dinner table as Fisher and Underwood.
Rubbing elbow with the stars didn’t come cheap: Tickets for the event cost $450 for individuals or $4,000 for a table of 10.
In 2006, Bell and the Senators committed to raising $1 million over five years for the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario and Monday's soirée will help fulfil that goal.
Since 1992, the hockey club and the Sens Foundation have raised more than $2.2 million for charity.
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