St. Stephen's Educational Trust hosts fifteenth annual cocktail party
Warwick - It was another milestone on Thursday evening, May 26, more than 100 guests attended the St. Stephen’s - St. Edward’s Educational Trust fifteenth annual cocktail party at the historic Landmark Inn. Father Robert Bubel, parochial vicar of the Church of St. Stephen, the First Martyr, gave the invocation and grace before meals. “We want to thank everyone who has supported us all these years,” said Edward Scharfenberger, president of the trust. “This is our 'Community Appreciation Night.’ Although it’s a night to have fun, let us also remember our neighbors in the South who have suffered so much devastation from the recent tornadoes. Please keep them in your prayers.” Designed to just about break even, the annual event treats guests with a generous assortment of creative hors d’oeuvres, musical entertainment, and an open bar for three full hours. One of the favorite attractions each year is the variety and quality of the appetizers created by Mike DiMartino, award-winning chef/owner of the Landmark Inn. Richard Wiggins, a nightclub style singer/pianist, also returned to provide the musical entertainment for the evening. Wiggins currently performs at Gigi’s Folderol restaurant in Westtown. Master of Ceremonies was again local radio and television personality Dick Wells. Individual donors and local businesses including Style Council, Hip & Chic, Vogel Nationwide Insurance and Frazzleberries provided merchandise for the evening’s raffle gift baskets. The modest net proceeds from this year’s St. Stephen’s Educational Trust Party were just over $1,000 but the event has never been considered a fund raiser. This money will again be used to offset each student’s textbook expense this coming fall. The St. Stephen’s - St. Edward’s Educational Trust was created 19 years ago to help finance educational programs at the tuition supported elementary school. The Trust invests contributions made throughout the year to help support the school and in the past the monies, for example, have been used for tuition aide for poor families, improvements to the school playground, a new roof, and teacher appreciation awards among other projects.