Jolly is the key word.
Ninety party-goers had a jolly good time at the Santa Maria Philharmonic Society’s annual fund-raising dinner on the evening of Jan. 21 at the Radisson Hotel.
Here are the top 10 reasons why you should have been there:
Reason No. 10: You would have had the opportunity to hobnob with folks like Vicki and Judge Rodney Melville and Diane and Judge Jed Beebe.
Reason No. 9: You would have had the chance to chat with PCPA Foundation Board President Nancy Johnson (who, by the way, will be honored by the Santa Maria Arts Council at its upcoming annual do). Nancy is routinely honored, at least once a year, for being such a stand-up gal in the community.
Reason No. 8: You would have had a chance to tell the Philharmonic Society’s Executive Director George Majoue how overjoyed you are that they received a grant of $250,000 that likely saved the society from extinction.
Reason No. 7: You would have watched Diane Board-Mirken win the live auction bid to conduct at the opening season of the philharmonic’s 2012-2013 season. The jubilant Borad-Mirken was practicing on her way out of the dining room. We can’t miss that performance!
Reason No. 6: You would have had the chance to bid on a gorgeous gold and amethyst ring from the workshop of Santa Maria’s resident jeweler, Jerry Stinn, whose wife, Dr. Lynda Gantt was one of those who worked hard to set up the tables and auction items.
Reason No. 5: You would have enjoyed a delish dinner of filet mignon (rave reviews on that) or salmon (ditto with the raves) and four—not two, but four—bottles of complimentary wine at each table, including Costa de Oro Chardonnay and William James pinot noir. Not too shabby.
Reason No. 4: You would have seen
Dr. Marcus and Joanna Engelmann, Franca Lockard, auctioneer Jim Glines, Dennis Prescott and Bodil Cudd, Joyce Ellen Lippmann, and Dr. Robert and Louise Hammond.
Reason No. 3: You would have heard a string quartet, The Coastal Strings, play in the atrium while you sipped wine and perused the silent auction tables. The music elevated the ambience and ratcheted up the classiness of the event by quite a few notches. We can’t say enough nice things about the divine music.
Reason No. 2: You would have had the once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity to bid on the most enticing-sounding live auction item to come down the pike in months. Auctioned off was a Mystery Dinner, “Murder in Morocco,” written by our resident playwright, Diane Balay.
The action takes place in Rick’s Café Americana in 1941 in Morocco. We all know who was there then, and the place was crawling with representatives of the Third Reich. From the program: “You and your guests will join the glittering crowd at Rick’s for an evening of deals, dinner, merriment, and music until the Gestapo shows up and the murderer strikes.”
Don’t you just wish you had won this bid? Can you imagine how much fun it will be?
Reason No. 1: You would have been supporting the Santa Maria Philharmonic Society. Santa Marians need quality classical music and the schools need the philharmonic’s music vans for education and fun.
If you want to hobnob with Helen, you can contact her at helenthom232@yahoo.com.
This article appears in Jan 26 – Feb 2, 2012.