Volunteer Frederick
Featured Event - 2007 VIP's at Your Service Dinner
Get your tickets for this year's annual dinner.
2008 VIPs at Your Service Movie Madness!
Click here!
November 12, 2007
Randy Hively & ML Carroll Win Volunteer Frederick's Most Appreciated VIP Waiter Award
Volunteer Frederick held its eighth annual "VIPs at Your Service" fundraising dinner at Martins at Walkersville on November 9th.
Twenty five "very important people" served as VIP Waiters for this lively event, and helped raise close to $18,000 to sustain Volunteer Frederick's programs that engage volunteers in service at hundreds of public and nonprofit agencies throughout the County. The VIP Waiters decorated their tables and themselves with a theme and competed among each other to see who could earn the most tips (donations) from their guests and be awarded Most Appreciated Waiter.
This year's event served up a wide variety of entertaining table themes: Dr. Seuss, The Funny Side of Scotland, Cowboys, and many more.
"It is always amazing to see to what lengths the VIP Waiters go to decorate their tables and entertain their guests," said Lisa Orr, Volunteer Frederick's executive director "At one extreme, we had an entire table of Elvis's, and at the other, a group of dapperly dressed 1930's party-goers seated at the most elegant table decorated by Jutta Terrell of downtown Frederick's Etiquette store."
Randy Hively and ML Caroll (Canapes) stole the show as everyone's favorite outlaws, Bonnie and Clyde and received the Most Appreciated VIP Waiter award after raising $3,535 in tips and silent auction sales.
Volunteer Frederick's Board President Michael Cronin (Merrill Lynch) and fellow waiter Beccah Bartlett (Structures Salon) won the Most Beautiful Table award with their table that was Just Like Heaven, angels included! Richard Griffin, Heather Gramm and Donna Goff, lassoed the Most Creative Table award, with their theme Cowboys & Cowgirls. Brian Duncan of (Tyler-Donegan Real Estate) armed with a live bagpiper, three holes of golf and a little Scottish humor, received the Funniest Table award with his table theme The Funny Side of Scotland.
Cindy Cantrel (Kathy Schultze State Farm Insurance) and Susan Snyder (ISS) served up some fun with their table theme Tennis Anyone? , while Dr. Janet Parnes (Women's Health Specialists of Frederick) serenaded her table of Elvis impersonators as the king of Rock N' Roll. Singing was the name of the game at Betsy Pakenas' (Smith Barney) It's All About the Music table, and Sunday afternoon wasn't far away at Michael Pugh's (Pugh Real Estate Services) table, who brought the game to his guests with his theme College Football.
George Terrell (Etiquette) gave his guests a taste of elegant 1930's dining with his Etiquette 1930's Style theme, while Susie Miller (Susie's Cues) entertained her guests with the classic ballet theme, The Nutcracker. Volunteer Frederick's own Executive Director, Lisa Orr served as a VIP Waiter this year along with her husband, Charlie Cottingham (Frederick Community College). Costumed as a penguin and polar bear, the pair showed that helping the environment can be fun with their global warming theme Save the Ice! Lorrie Tripp and Denyce Delorenzo (Maryland Ensemble Theater) rattled their guests as the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss, while Rick & Pat Simons of (Sir Speedy) added some Roy Rogers Western style flair to the evening with their theme Cowboys and Indians. Jason Mechler (FACKA - Frederick Adult Co-Ed Kickball Assoc.) entertained his guests with a night in Vegas, while actors from The Fredericktowne Players treated their guests to a preview of their upcoming comedy, Bullshot Crummond.
Local event sponsors did their part to make the VIP dinner a success. Business sponsors included Sunshine Management Co., Frederick County Bank, Columbia Bank, FMH, Bechtel, Soundsations, Wilson Mann of GW Solutions, LLC, Rent-A-Center, Frederick Cellars, and American Disposal Systems.
Several businesses and individuals also sponsored VIP Tables including the Gazette, Varner & Goundry, Colonial Jewelers, the ILM Group at Smith Barney, Betsy & Pete Pakenas, and Janet Parnes, MD, to name a few.
"Many people helped make this exceptionally fun event a great success," concluded Orr, "--our Emcee Mike Bowersox; our singing auctioneer Anne-Lynne Grosse, our enthusiastic VIP Waiters and their most generous guests; the staff at Martins, our volunteers and Volunteer Frederick staff; and the VIP planning committee members Elizabeth Carter, Cindy Cantrel, Diana Halleman, Ann Fisher, Pat Leiby, Jackie Minnick and Lisa Orr. I can't thank everyone enough for their creativity, hard work and support. It is great to have so many people help spread the word about the importance of volunteerism and volunteer centers"
Volunteer Frederick serves as Frederick County's one-stop resource for service and volunteerism and offers services and programs for senior citizens, families, youth, businesses and volunteer managers. More information about these programs as well as Emergency Volunteer Mobilization Programs and the BIG Sweep roadside beautification program can be obtained by calling Volunteer Frederick at (301) 663-5214 or visiting www.volunteerfrederick.org.
