Mountain Lakes Home
President's Letter
January 2008
Happy New Year! I can’t believe it’s 2008 already. The first half of this Town Club year has flown by, in part fueled by the many fun, exciting and successful programs we’ve completed.
We started off our fundraising activities with our annual Halloween Party. We entertained a maximum capacity 150 children and raised over $1,200! That’s a record for this event.
Another record was set with our Holiday Boutique, which netted $8,400! We had some wonderful new vendors and some well received returnees. While all enjoyed getting a jump start on holiday shopping, we raised $750 for our Thanksgiving Meals program for A&P gift cards donated to the Boonton Food Pantry.
Our biggest fundraiser of the year, the Homes for the Holiday House Tour, was wildly successful. After expenses, this event raised $9,750! The homes were beautiful – a perfect way to get in the holiday spirit. And, with the weather cooperating, attendance was high.
Not to be overlooked, our members brightened the holidays for 26 families at the pediatric clinic of St. Clare’s Dover campus through our Adopt-A-Family program. Thanks to all who shopped for and wrapped gifts for these families in need.
Our social programs have been great fun. We had a record breaking number of newcomers at the annual cocktail party. Gourmet has been a gastronomical delight. It’s great to share a terrific meal with old friends and new friends alike. We’ve sampled menus from chefs Bobby Flay and Ina Garten, and look forward to those of some other great chefs in the coming months.
The monthly meetings have been well attended and extremely fun and informative. We have some great activities coming up – our next meeting will take place at The Main Course in Denville, a ‘meal-assembly’ kitchen, where we’ll make delicious meals to take home and serve. In April, we’ll join a guide from the Mountain Lakes Historic Preservation committee for a walking tour of our town, where we’ll learn the history of Mountain Lakes. Keep a lookout for information on other monthly activities: the daytime and nighttime book clubs, and the Morris View birthday club are always open to new and returning participants. Our end-of-year luncheon, while bittersweet, is always a nice occasion. More details will follow.
But, let’s not rest on our laurels! We have one more big fundraiser coming up. The annual Wine Benefit, scheduled for April 5, is always a hit. It’s a party and fundraiser all in one with wine and beer tastings and terrific food. Mark your calendar and invite your friends. People from all over are invited. The more the merrier, and the more money we raise for our grants program. Cheers!!
Speaking of grants, The Town Club grants program is currently accepting applications from local community service organizations. We’ll be reviewing requests and distributing funds from all of this year’s fundraising events. The deadline for requests is April 1, 2008. Time to give back!!
I want to thank the Town Club board for all their hard work. Without our officers and event chairs we would not have had such great success so far this year. I know the rest of the year will bring great success, too!
I’ll look forward to seeing all of you at our future events – which I promise will be fun and rewarding!
Kira Giffin
President
Contact: |
|
| Kira Giffin kirabb19@aol.com 973 394 8985 |
|