Our Dahlia Lounge Croquet Tournament & Lawn Party is sneaking right up--just 3 weeks away now. Gary Howse and his team at Gary Manuel Salon started this event 30 years ago, and I was thinking of him recently as we all begin to polish up our mallets and tune up our stopwatches. My good friend Charlie Billow and I are chairing the capital campaign for the new Food Lifeline warehouse, the beneficiary of the Lawn Party. We have a 34 million dollar goal and are 51% funded. We absolutely need your help to get to the finish line through participation in this event, or maybe even in a more grand way later this year.
I was having dinner with my mother back in Newark, Delaware recently. Over the years and over frequent visits, Grandma Mary, as my daughter knows her, has always greeted me at the red door of her home with a splendid smile, a small smooch on the cheek and a knowing, sideways smirk absolutely meant to suggest I need a haircut.
We were out to dinner with the whole family at a sweet little restaurant called William and Merry just outside of Newark. I'm just minding my own business, but being my usual charming self, when I happened to mention that--yes, for real, I did need a haircut. A great man, the founder of the Croquet Tournament, my friend and hairstylist Gary tragically passed away last year. We had been trading haircuts for dinners for the better part of 35 years. The word 'hairstylist' caught my mother's ears, and she whipped her head towards me and said..."Did you say 'hairstylist'?" Well, yes I did, Mom. | | With that she let out a yelp and burst into laughter. She's tiny, but boy, can she make a racket. A full five minutes later, having broken up the entire table of 20 nieces, nephews, and siblings, she was still trying to catch her breath and wipe tears from her eyes. Mother finally was able to speak and simply quipped "Yoooouuuuu have a hair dresser???"
Ruminating over our hopes for the tournament this year, I thought about that story and how much Gary would have laughed right along with her. I hope to see all of you as participants or cheerleaders as teams compete against the clock and for best costume while raising money for our favorite charitable organization, Food Lifeline. And I hope you will come and giggle at my hair and raise a glass to Gary and all of the past work that has gone into this event.
Please sign up soon so we can beat last year's record donation of $99,000 dollars!!
Cheers,
Tom | Share:    | | |
