Kick off Pasta Dinner - October 8, 2005

The Dutch Chicago Business Exchange (DCBE) hosted its first event on October 8 - Chicago meets Rotterdam. The event coincided with a visit to Chicago by the Rotterdam Running Ambassadors (www.rotterdamrunningambassadors.nl ) to Chicago in connection with the ABN AMRO LaSalle Bank Chicago Marathon. Several notables were present at the event including His Excellency Boudewijn van Eenennaam, Ambassador of The Netherlands to the United States, His Excellency Willem Schiff, Consul General of The Netherlands in Chicago, the Deputy Mayor for the City of Rotterdam, Port of Rotterdam officials and the Chair of the Executive Board for the European offices of Aon to name a few. In all more than 160 people attended the dinner and more than 60 runners were present – including several from Chicago. All the runners completed the event after carbo loading on the Chicago pasta served at La Strada’s Top of the Plaza with beautiful views of the Chicago skyline and lakefront.