It was a really special summer this year, and I got to participate fully in a fundraiser tea party! I know you have heard me talk about Tea Party before in prior Blogs. Tea party in the past has been for the benefit of one of the Valley Girls Hockey teams, but this summer it was for Houston Hawks Girls Basketball! All of the girls from our hockey group had either aged out or were playing out of town and after Covid had closed down a lot of fundraisers, including real party, we were so happy to bring it back for the Girls Basketball team!
The head coach was a guy, and the woodshop teacher, and when we were talking about how to raise money for the team for this upcoming year, I said two words "tea party" - The silence was deafening and I thought he may have choked on his own tounge!
After he got his tounge untied though and we had a good discussion about it, the coaches decided to go for it! We began planning!
Here is the Menu for the last Tea Party we were able to have with the Hockey teams. Covid had cancelled a couple of them. The menu is different every year and there is always a "tasting meeting" to narrow down our choices and make final selections for what we will serve.
Here is a place setting on one of the tables- these dishes are my Moms, and are a part of her Christmas dishes. They aren't so Christmas that they can't be used in the summer for a wonderful tea party and they are just stunning! Each place gets a copy of the menu so the party goers will know what to expect.
NonEssentials shop in Palmer, Alaska pairs our food items with tea for each course and generously donates tea for the party! It is always perfect and delicious pairings! I have gone many times to get the teas they have provided - this year Magic Moon was my favorite - I have a favorite every year but there is never a bad tea! For this year Rachael Wolfer and I were the tea Brewmasters, and I had no idea how hard that job was until now! It was all we could do to keep up with the brewing of the tea (correctly), and keeping the tea pots full for the girls to pour at the tables. It was fun but we didn't have a minute for doing much else. We loved it!
The girls basketball players serve all the food and pour the teas at each table. They also do part of the food prep, help to set up the tea party, wash dishes, and make sure they have things running smoothly! They have help from my mom, Coaches, parents, Sister in Law Kim Carney, and anyone else who will volunteer! They work together wonderfully and were just awesome! There was something for everyone to do, and although the work was sometimes hard, everyone had fun!
We were blessed with decent weather (or at least not a deluge) during the party, and we were also blessed by MyHouse - our local youth shelter and services with some of their Steamdriven Thrift Boutique items for our selfie station!
Which started out like this!
The players and coaches all wore white shirts and black pants/skirts and everyone had a black apron to wear. They looked so professional and ready for the day! You gotta love the Xtra Tuffs on some of the girls with their Tea Party wear.
Some wore sandals - and all were beautiful today!
This set is also my Moms - Sandwich glass I believe and its also a beautiful set of dishes. Yes! Between all of us, sister, mom, sister in law, friends, me - we have enough dishes to host a tea party with at least 15 tables and up to 150 people! That's a party!
We were blessed with wonderful donations like these handmade crochet blankets from Donna Benson for our silent auction and dollar auction - beautifully modeled by Donna herself and Shellie Ax.
This is the marvelous tea cart that welcomes people into the garden tea area and where we give directions for how to get every moment out of your Tea Party experience!
I was in charge of making the Thumbprint Cookies as one of my duties. The Vodka bottle is actually home made Vanilla - The bottle is fantastic for making and storing it.
I was also in charge of making the Honeyberry Jelly to go with the scone course! Kim Carney makes the scones (and a lot of the food) and she is such a great maker! Never a bad bite!
This year I will be making a lovely Hibiscus Apple Jelly to go with our first course Vanilla Bean Scones. Can't wait!
Yes! Real butter! Only Real butter! The coffee is not for the cookies - its my drinking coffee in a little Royal Tara Shamrock Demitasse cup. (Yes I have a tea set or three). Fancy without being too over the top while cooking! lol
Finished Thumbprint Cookies with Cherry Amaretto Jam - so delicious!
The Snowfire Garden all set up for tea!
Getting the silent auction items ready for the auction! We were blessed with very generous friends and local businesses who gave us some fantastic items! 5 full to overflowing tables and we had things hanging from the tent rafters and sitting on the ground! It was amazing!
Assistant Coach Riley Davis with the table set with her tea set! Beautiful Godinger Butterfly Garden with Purple Pyrex to back it up!
A little close up of part of the Godinger dishes. So beautiful! Its a favorite - one of many! We always have fun seeing where people sit at Tea Party - most people choose a tea set rather than a "table".
Mrs Rachel Wolfer Modeling her full set of wonderful tea dishes! I cant remember what they are but the Coach - whose wife this is - ended up having not one but two tea sets! Who would have guessed? One set was like service for 10 or 12!
We try to get everyone who donates a personalized and signed by the team Thank you card. Complete with photos. Someday one of these girls will be famous - they all are for this one day!
We finished the day taking our "Thank You" picture in the selfie booth with all the team and coaches! So much fun and so many memories made (and dollars for the kids too)!
We are getting ready to have Tea Party for this year coming up on July 15th and I am excited to participate again the the preparation and hosting. We are seriously hoping that the weather will improve and it wont be as soggy as it has been lately! We have only had about 4 sunny days this whole "summer", and I am ready for some fun in the sun! You can check out the Facebook event for Tea Party here to learn more about it!
Stay tuned for the 2023 Edition coming up - probably not until August.....but it will be this year!
I hope you have good food, hot tea and wonderful friends to share it with...Blessed Be.