Another Day with James Farmer

Well, today was a very fun day!  Months of planning and collaboration from the members of my garden club resulted in a beautiful fund-raising luncheon featuring James Farmer!  The vision and most of the work was done by Betsy Powell, a relatively new member.  Betsy thinks big! She's so creative and so full of energy that it is a rush just being with her and her ideas.  This is one of two 6' arrangements that she did for either side of the stage. 

If you were attending, the first thing you would see coming off of the elevator is a sign-in table flanked with very large iron vases filled with vibrant fall foliage.  Here's an example of the details that went into this event.  All of the signage, invitations, and miscellaneous paper pieces were crafted with these hand painted images of this beautiful season. 

The next thing our guests experienced was this beautiful table for hot cider.  Don't these copper pieces look beautiful, especially in the fall? 

Here's a closer look.

The next thing they see is this beautiful table for the silent auction.

Every table had a different centerpiece, which was auctioned off.  They were all made in a wooden dough bowl, and placed on a wooden slice.  Every one of them sold for $100-$200, and those winners got a great deal.

Aren't they wonderful?

Thank you, Betsy!  You are so talented!

Check out the table numbers.  More darling images.

James said that every successful arrangement needs to have foliage, flowers, and fruit (and feathers in the fall).  I think these have it all!

More beauties!

Every place setting had this wonderful burlap bag filled with a CD by Harrison Powell, and a copy of James Farmer's grandmother's (Mimi's) apple cake recipe, which was served as dessert.  Lee Epting was the caterer and our meal of potpie and a delicious salad was sooooo good.  You can see more about Epting Events here.

Each white napkin was topped with a cute little lady apple.

You can see the crossed burlap runners here in a pale grape and salmon color.  Sounds a little daring, but they went beautifully with the fall ingredients. Didn't it come together nicely?  

And then, James......what can I say......he is just the most charming speaker.  You can see another post I did on him a few weeks ago here.  Do you see the stuffed pheasant on the olive bucket that he started with?

Well, this is what the finished product looked like.  My sweet friend, Blanchette, won it at the silent auction and had to rent a truck to take it home, it was so tall!  I would have loved to see her husband's face!

And, just as cute as James, was our pianist, Harrison Powell.  I am so grateful to him.  He donated his time to entertain us, and also donated a CD for every attendee.  His music is original, and has much the same feeling as George Winston.  Beautiful!  Read about him here.  You'll be impressed by his mission and his talent.  And then, at the end of the day, he made trip after trip up and down seven floors to help women to their cars with their centerpieces.  His mama raised him right!

This is the location of our event.  It was held at The Shepherd Center in Atlanta.  They have been the well-deserved recipient of some nice donations from our garden club.  They have been ranked by U. S. News and World Report among the top 10 rehabilitation hospitals in the nation.  We are very proud that one of our members founded this hospital when her son suffered a spinal cord injury in 1975.  It is now a 152 bed facility and it gives me chills to see what a superlative hospital this is and the life-changing difference it makes in their patients and their families. Read more here.

Thank you Betsy for your vision and your very hard work!

I loved being a small part of it!