Sacred Heart Villa celebrated their 11th annual Heart of Hearts Auction on Friday, April 21st at Rose of the Hill. In keeping to their “Spring Fling” theme, the main banquet room was filled with bright pink, green and yellow colors to accentuate the spring theme. The guest enjoyed appetizers provided by businesses on the Hill including Volpi’s fresh salami, an array of cheeses from DiGregorio's, soft knotted rolls from Vitali’s Bakery, crunchy bruschetta toasts from by Viviano’s and Sons along with mortadella and fresh fruit provided by Urzi’s Market. Diane Urzi arranged the colorful charcuterie display. Tony Favazza and crew served their red pasta, Sicilian chicken, roasted potatoes, vegetable medley, and topped it off with mini-Hank’s cheesecakes and mini-cannoli.
At the start of the evening, The Villa acknowledged several people with the Heart of Hearts Award for their dedication to the Villa and the community. First to receive the award was Ms. Elaine Fassi, who has taught piano to Villa youngsters for 22 years.. Second honored was Pietro’s Restaurant and the Iovaldi family for their generous support of monetary donations for our Dining with Donors, sponsorships, food donations and volunteering.
The Fund-a-Need portion of the auction was preceded by a video featuring the two year old children marching as the kindergarten class sang to the tune of “The Ants Go Marching” about the need to adjust the playroom to enclose a classroom to provide a more secure and private space for this toddler classroom. Sr.Bridget teased the crowd to practice raising their bid cards high and in the correct direction. When a person raised their bid number to give to the Fund-a-Need, they received a free navy blue baseball cap with SHV in red embroidered on them. They were successful in raising the funds needed for this project!
New this year for The Villa’s Auction was a backwards Bingo or losers Bingo sponsored by Vincent’s Jewelry. The many rounds of this altered Bingo game throughout the evening kept everyone excited and enlivened. The raffles were also very successful. The Golden Ticket Raffle offered the winner three destinations to choose from. Katie Milhouse, a Villa parent, won the raffle and gifted it to her parents who decided to go to Charleston, S.C. The Big Cedar Lodge$500 gift card Raffle was won by the Kreienkamps, guests of Kris Doder. The 50/50 Raffle was won by a Villa parent who gifted it back to the school.
The big surprise of the night came during the Live Auction when a 14 week old black and white rescue lab/border collie mix puppy was sold to a Villa parent for $1,000. This parent then announced that five moms got together and decided to purchase the puppy to give to one of the toddler teachers, Mary Grace Ruggeri. Everyone let out an audible, “Ahhhhhh!” as they watch Mary Grace embrace the puppy in tears!
Sacred Heart Villa is grateful for all the Hill businesses and Villa families who contributed to this event.