Sacred Heart Villa celebrated their 12th annual Heart of Hearts Auction on Friday, April 26th at Rose of the Hill. In keeping to our “Evening in Paris” theme, the main banquet room was teaming with elegant flower arrangements & candles the colors of a sunset, and a backdrop of the Eiffel Tower with boats floating in the Seine. The guest enjoyed appetizers provided by businesses on the Hill including Volpi’s fresh salami, cappa, and capocolla. (This was a nod to our Italian neighborhood.) There was an array of cheeses from DiGregorio's, sliced French baguettes from Vitali’s Bakery, and fresh fruit provided by Urzi’s Market. Diane Urzi arranged the colorful charcuterie display which included an Eiffel Tower on top of a tiered display. She also prepared cute little French flags attached to toothpicks with the saying, “A bit of Paris on the Hill.” Tony Favazza and crew served a French inspired meal which was delicious: potato leek soup, mixed greens salad with a homemade champagne dressing, chicken Francese in a white wine lemon sauce, roasted potatoes, fresh green beans, and topped it off with Hank’s French Apricot Almond Cheesecake and White Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake.
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: Mrs. Louisa Cottone who has worked at SHV for 15 years; Matt Sutherland who has donated his services to The Villla as an architect for many years; Andrew Gayer who has donated his services as a structural engineer for several projects over the past 12 years. We were pleased to honor them for their loyalty and support of Sacred Heart Villa.
The Fund-a-Need portion of the auction was preceded by a video featuring the children in Ms. Karen’s performing arts group. The children dressed up as the Three Little Pigs and the Big Bad Wolf that came hoofing and banking open the classroom door, and then fell to the ground having a heart attack. They sang a song to the tune of “The Ants Go Marching” about the need to improve our classroom doors, locks, and purchase an AED. Sr. Bridget teased the crowd to practice raising their paddle cards high and correctly to “fund-a-need to be safe indeed.” When a donor raised their bid number to give, they received a burgundy baseball cap with the SHV logo in white. We were very successful in raising the funds needed for this project! The big surprise of the night came when four people quickly pledged to give $5,000 each. We raised $20,000 in less than a minute. All the donors were very generous!
New last year for The Villa’s Auction was 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 that offered a week stay in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida was won by The Tillitson family. The Cubs vs. Cardinals tickets were won by Ms. Mary Grace, one of our teachers. The 50/50 Raffle was won by Anna Stremlau, a relative of Ms. Louisa. Tanina Santangelo, our accountant won the bid for the miniature Australian Shepherd puppy.
Sacred Heart Villa is grateful for all the Hill businesses and Villa families who contributed to this successful event. May God bless you for your generosity and your support of our ministry to God’s precious children.