Local Business Headed To The White House

Packet & Times

An Orillia business owner will be showcasing his environmentally-friendly water dispenser at the most famous venue in the world — provided he passes the Secret Service background check.

Paul Baker from Event Water Solutions has been invited to provide his bottle-free water solution at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the White House lawn, taking place April 9.

"It will be a big moment for us. Everyone is pretty happy to go," he said, noting that he and two other Orillia employees will be among those to hit the White House lawn.

This year, the Easter tradition is being organized by the American event planning company C3 Presents — a group Event Water has worked with in the past on festivals like Lollapalooza.

It was the event co-ordinator that called Baker to let him know he got the 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue gig.

"We do a lot of work with major production companies in the U.S.," Baker said. "(C3) are friends of the administration, they have worked for them before."

Baker and staff will be making the trip to Washington to make sure all three water stations installed for the day perform to presidential standards.

A fan of the Obama family — Michelle's environmentalism in particular — Baker is eager to man the station that will be set up on the exclusive ticket-entry-only egg roll portion of the lawn.

"It's the only chance I'll ever get to be close to the Obamas," he said. "I don’t hold out too big a hope that they are going to come over to the water station for a drink. But who knows, maybe they'll have a look and think that's neat."

The annual egg roll has been a White House tradition since 1878. The festivities, which attracted about 30,000 last year, include events for kids all day long.

Having already employed their station at other high-profile events, such as Canada Day on Parliament Hill and for the G20 Summit, Baker is confident his team can handle the pressure.

"That is what we are here for. We want to do major events," he said.

Having handled much larger-scale events attendance-wise, Baker admits that this one will be the highest profile venue his business has ever visited.

"We have a proven track record but this is a whole different level. They are doing Secret Service checks on us," he said. "When we put the picture online, there is not much more we can put up there to prove how legitimate we are."

Baker is hoping to come home with one of the coveted White House keepsake eggs, this year emblazoned with First Dog Bo.

"They are a really big deal. Everybody wants one," he said.