DAZZLING holiday trees have been added to the stately Toledo Club’s holiday decor. It’s the club’s annual Parade of Trees.
Jackie Barnes, event chairman, said there are 50 decorated trees, plus holiday planters and wreaths and glass creations by local artists. More than 200 donors decorated and donated the holiday trees and wreaths to be displayed and sold for charity’s sake. Bidding for items is in the lobby of the club and available through 3 p.m. Dec. 31. One need not be a member to place bids.
More than 100 charities have benefited from more than $100,000 that has been raised since the program’s inception nine years ago. Funds have also gone to the Historical Fund of the Toledo Club, which is more than 100 years old.
It is such a spectacular sight that it has given rise to special viewing nights that include a prime rib dinner buffet. The first dinner series started Tuesday night and ran through Thursday, plus today at the brunch with Santa.
PHOTO GALLERY: On The Town
If you missed it, no problem. The open-to-the-public event is also slated for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, plus a Dec. 20 brunch. The buffet, which starts at 5:30 p.m., is $36 for adults and $16 for children ages 5-11 and includes tax and service charge. The brunch, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., is $28.50 for adults and $13 for children, and again, it includes tax and service charge. Reservations are required. Call 419-254-2961.
It is a chance to dress up and enjoy the trees and grandeur of the club, but please be advised, there is a dress code. Proper business attire is required, which means no denim, no ball caps, or athletic apparel.
FASHION with the Stars: A tribute to fashion’s fallen stars was a fabulous runway of fun and fashion in honor of World AIDS Day. Featured was American rapper Rasheeda (Rasheeda Buckner-Frost), who is also a fashion designer, television personality, and businessman from Atlanta. Presented by the Ryan White Program at University of Toledo Medical Center, the former Medical College of Ohio, and Priceless Designs, the event was held at the Radisson Hotel at UTMC.
In addition to Priceless Designs, a local boutique, fashions were from Queen B’s Fashion Boutique, Shadow Diva’s Accessories Store, and Straight Drop Clothing.
The show’s mission was to bring communities together and provide awareness, education, and prevention of HIV.
“The fashion industry has lost some amazing people to AIDS such as Perry Ellis and Willi Smith,” said Richard Meeker of the Healthy Relationships program in the Ryan White Clinic. Other committee members from UTMC included Kennyetta White, Christopher Coleman, Vipul Shukla, and Joy James.
During the intermissions, facts about HIV and AIDS were shared: An estimated one out of every five people in Lucas County with HIV is unaware of their diagnosis. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, each year about 50,000 people in the United States become infected with HIV. Of that number, the Ohio Department of Health says about 1,200 people are in Ohio, and the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department says about 60 people are in Lucas County.
Sponsors included UTMC’s department of medicine and department of diversity, Buckeye CableSystem, and Alliance Retina. Also partners for the event were the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, AIDS Resource Center Ohio, Neighborhood Health Association, and Nuestra Gente Community Projects Inc.
THE Holly and Ivy holiday fashion show presented by ProMedica Flower Hospital Auxiliary was at Inverness Club. The 200 there dined on a tasty lunch but not before the auxiliary presented Dr. Neeraj Kanwal, hospital president, with a $28,575 check for renovation of the eighth floor patient rooms, completing their commitment of $300,000 to the project.
A $20,000 check was presented to Holly Baumgartner and Anjali Gray of Lourdes University, completing the auxiliary’s $35,000 room renovation commitment to the university’s biology department.
Then it was show time! Sugar plum fairies introduced each scene. They were Gwenivere Anthonette and Katy Gillikin, ballerinas from the Academy of Russian Classical Ballet Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Mich.
Kaiko Zureich and Michael Seay gave spirited comments during the fast-paced show of models in colorful winter coats, felt hats, casual and business attire, and flowing holiday gowns from Sophia Lustig Shop. President Tuxedo provided tuxedo designs and Kids Klothesline showed party outfits and pajamas.
Celebrity models included Dr. Kanwal, Kaye Lani Rafko-Wilson, former Miss America; Bronco McKart, World Boxing Champion; and Wendy Kromer-Schell, Martha Stewart pastry chef.
Event chairmen Barbara Baumgartner and Brian Hazel-Bahrs report $14,000 was raised.
Thanks go to Sunny Chung Veit, Matt Hundley, and Chris Jaeger of Ethicon, a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson, for taking the day off work to volunteer at the event; and to committee chairmen Patricia Hilfinger, Sue Brue, Polly Tate, Bill Puckett, Barbara Benham, Amy Klosterman, Norene Drewicz, and Barbara McCloskey.
LITTLE elves, in this case junior bakers, gathered for the Children’s Pie Making Workshop at Toledo Country Club. Executive chef Sam Misiura led the 30 children, donned in aprons and chefs’ hats, through the steps of making a Dutch apple pie. While the pies were baking, children enjoyed a pasta buffet with their parents, then took the pies home.
First Published December 13, 2015, 5:00 a.m.
