The Embassy of the Republic of Estonia held its first luncheon reception for Estonians on December 1, 2006, at the Ottawa Hunt & Golf Club. Despite the  treacherous ice storm about 70 people attended from Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Kingston and other smaller places such as Merrickville.

Unfortunately, many people had to cancel last minute  because of road conditions and the Toronto contingent arrived by train. Among that group were Honourary Consul General Laas Leivat, Estonian Central Council in Canada president Avo Kittask and Rev. Kalle Kadakas. Only one person made it from Kingston and she came by train as well. A whole carload of Kingstonian Estonians was forced to cancel. 

The embassy had done a great job organizing the event. The luncheon was a first rate affair and several people commented that they could not remember that many Estonians ever coming together for an event in Ottawa. Also, it was nice to see that all four generations were fairly evenly represented.  Avo Kittask presented the new Chargé d'affaires Rasmus Lumi with three books about the history of Estonians in Canada. Laas Leivat was overheard to comment in a later conversation that some of those volumes were "raske saada". Rev. Heino Laaneots said grace, and Rasmus Lumi's excellent speech confirmed for many that this diplomat has a glowing future ahead of him. His desire to connect with as many Canadian-Estonians as possible has not gone unnoticed. A new chapter in the history of the Embassy of Estonia's relations with Canadian Estonians is well on its way to being written.

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