Attend Fundraisers

The sixth annual Mad Hatter Party will be held at 6 p.m. Saturday, September 22, 2012, at Willow Ridge Garden and Landscaping Center, 97 Oak Ridge Turnpike  (click here for map). This year we are calling it the Mad Hatter Wine Party in the Garden. On the menu will be wine, music, food, and, of course, a hat parade and competition.

The fifth annual Mad Hatter Party was held Saturday, September 24, 2011, at Willow Ridge Garden and Landscaping Center, 97 Oak Ridge Turnpike  (click here for map).

The Mad Hatter Party earned $5600 for ORCMA.  There were 110 people at the party.

The winners of the Best Hat competition were sisters Christina Young (mother of singer Katy Wolfe Zahn)and Beth Kloker (the Lampshade Ladies), first prize; Pat Zanolli (fluffy green hat), second prize; and Carolyn Krause, with her creepy spider-on-web hat and "Get on the Web" and Dan Allcott photo signs to shamelessly promote this website and the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra page on Facebook to which this site links, third prize. The first, second, and third prizes were a plant and gift certificate from Willow Ridge Garden.

Thank you, Tom and Pat Lakers, owners of the garden, and Joan-Ellen Zucker, chair of the Mad Hatter Party committee, for hosting and arranging a great fundraising party! And thanks to the partygoers for their generous donations to ORCMA.

The Mad Hatter visited France Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. at Willow Ridge Garden. The cost was $60 per person and ORCMA benefited from the generous donations of partygoers in exchange for lots of French food and fun.

Party goers enjoyed the gorgeous garden, fantastic French food, elegant wines, cookies by ORCMA's bakers, a hat parade and competition, silent auction, and wonderful entertainment provided by local singers Katy Wolfe Zahn and Julie Stelter, who sang French cabaret songs, to piano accompaniment by Terry Silver-Alford; by Suzanne Angelini, who strolled among diners with her accordion, performing Gallic ballads and drinking songs, and Joseph Angelini on keyboard; and two groups, who  welcomed guests with their music -- an ensemble from the Oak Ridge Youth Symphony Orchestra and the Battle Brass (trombone, tuba, two trumpets, and a baritone). Matt Shafer Powell, news director of WUOT and husband of ORCMA Executive Director Michelle Powell, was the master of ceremonies. The French cuisine (tarts, coq au vin, saumon en papillote, salad Nicoise) was prepared by Chef Thaddeus Chadwick Combs.

THE 2010 MAD HATTER PARTY

The fourth annual Mad Hatter Party, held Saturday night, Sept. 25, 2010, at the Willow Ridge Garden and Landscaping Center, earned more than $6,000. The weather was comfortable for the event, which offered festivities and food and drinks outdoors, in a greenhouse, and under tents.

This gala fundraiser for ORCMA featured fine food, wine, musical entertainment, a silent auction, and the opportunity for attendees to wear dazzling, decorated hats, march in the Hat Parade, and participate in the "Best Hat" competition. The winners of the Best Hat competition included Ray and Joanne Garrett, who wore hats made of real paper money, which they donated to ORCMA.

Last year the party had an Italian theme. Romano's Macaroni Grill of Knoxville catered the event with wonderful Italian food. The guests enjoyed drinking Chardonnay and Chianti wines and gingerale.

The Battle Brass Quintet played "Godfather" and other foot-tapping tunes as the guests arrived between 6 and 6:30 p.m.. The trio of Suzanne, Pete, and Joseph Angelini serenaded guests with Italian songs on accordion, guitar, and keyboard. During showtime, local singers Katy Wolfe Zahn and David Kurtemeir, who received rave reviews for their performances in Man from La Mancha at the Clarence Brown Theater, sang songs from Man from La Mancha and an upcoming performance of Music Man at the Clarence Brown Theater.

For the fourth consecutive year Willow Ridge Garden owner Tom Lakers, a solid supporter of the Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, donated the garden space and his staff to this ORCMA fundraising event, as well as money. The ORCMA staff and board are grateful for his continuing support.