High society. High honours. Fresh from receiving a U.S. award for special events and launching a Web site that will surely make you wish you were going to the Chalet on Mount Royal in April, the organizers of the Daffodil Ball are marshaling their forces for another dazzling party.

The 2001 Daffodil Ball, in aid of the Canadian Cancer Society, will be run by some of the ball's previous co-chairmen who have devoted time, energy and expertise to make this annual party one of Montreal's most successful fundraisers.

Titans of industry who will lead the 2001 Daffodilare Dr. Francesco Bellini, chairman and CEO of BioChem Pharma, Charles Cavell, president and CEO of Quebecor World, Francois Coutu, president and COO of Jean Coutu Group, and Pierre Michaud, chairman of Provigo and of Reno-Depot.

"As a team, we'll try to raise as much money as possible," said Cavell last week. "But last year's monumental haul of more than $1.4 million was possible because it was an exceptional millennium event ... I was overwhelmed with the generosity of our community.

"The chairmen influence the fundraising, but the fact that the ball won an award is a tribute to the wonderful committee," said Cavell.

"The 2001 ball will be just as much fun - and we'll serve Montreal's smoked meat at midnight again."

No surprise, daffodils will once again be the main feature of the decor and Gilbert Lanouette of Fleurs Gilbert will use 40,000 flowers to create the theme, An Impressionist Garden, evoking Monet's garden at Giverny, France, and the artist's signature colours of yellow and blue.

Dinner will be by the Queen Elizabeth Hotel which was the ball's caterer in 2000.

The committee includes Bianca Barbucci, Marc Genereux, Marisa Bellini, Suzan Cavell, Hans Fluehler, Janet Black, Julie Goulakos, Penny Echenberg, Sonia Hanna, Suzanne Brillant Fluehler, Claude Brien Coutu, Amy Marleau, Liz Yermus, Louise Courey Nadeau, Francois Odermatt, Marie-Josee Vincelli, Eileen Goldfarb Pelletier, Charlene Laprise Weiser, Nicole Parisien, Annamaria Testani, Jackie Simard, Shirley Quantz, Jeannie Saunders and Ermes De Dominicis.

Since the first Daffodil Ball in 1994, the event has contributed $3.1 million to the society, which represents more funds raised for cancer research and patient services than any other single event in Canada.

At an awards ceremony in New Orleans last week, the Daffodil Ball and its producer, Alison Silcoff, won the Special Events Magazine 2000 Gala Award in the category of best fundraising event.

"I'm surprised, but delighted," said Silcoff, "we were up against formidable competition."

Other events nominated were the Lady From Shanghai Gala for the Chicago Alzheimer's Society, whose president was Yasmin Khan, (daughter of Rita Hayworth); Cabaret in Denver, put on by the Gay, Lesbian and Bi-sexual Society of Colorado; and Silver Into Gold, a gala in Toronto for Juvenile Diabetes.

"We had to fill in pages and pages of description about our ball that included the challenges of putting it on ... we showed videos and photographs," Silcoff said.

"We told them about the last-minute snowstorms in April, the 11th-hour disappearance of 40,000 daffodils en route from Scotland, the logistics of staging an event at a difficult location like the Chalet du Mont Royal and the challenge of raising money in Montreal which is a more limited market than many other cities."

The event also has entered the world of technology and has its own Web site: daffodilball.ca (baldelajonquille.ca), designed and donated by Stylus Strategic Communications.

The site features coverage and photos of previous balls, as well as news about the upcoming event, one of the highlights of the spring social season. As well, there will be links to Canadian Cancer Society's sites with information on research.

The Canadian Cancer Society, founded in 1938, is the largest Non-Profit organization in Canada dedicated to the fight against cancer. It provides more funding for cancer research than any other agency or government in the country and is the only organization focusing on both causes and effects of cancer.

Daffodil Ball, 7 p.m., Thursday, April 26; Chalet on Mount Royal; $500 for individuals; $1,000 or more for benefactors; sponsors' tables $10,000, $15,000, $25,000; (514) 255-5151, (514) 932-7517.