Guests step back in time to 1920s
Fayette County residents will step back in time to the roaring 1920s when flappers danced the Charleston to jazz music, alcohol prohibition led to organized crime and silent movies and stars graced the silver screen. “The Gatsby Gala,” a fund-raising event for the Fayette County Division of the American Heart Association, will take place Saturday, Feb. 5, in the grand ballroom of the Chateau LaFayette at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa in Farmington.
“We already have a sell-out crowd for ‘The Gatsby Gala.’ We have a waiting list of people who want tickets. This is the third year in a row that the event has been sold out,” said Leda Gismondi, who will co-chair the event with Sheila Mechling. “It’s a very popular event.”
Gismondi said the American Heart Association is expecting a capacity crowd of about 620 people to attend the gala, which will feature cocktails from 5:30 to 7 p.m. followed by dinner. The event will include a live auction at 8 p.m., a silent auction from 5:30 to 10 p.m. and dancing at 9 p.m.
Mechling said the Heart Gala is the biggest fund-raiser of the year for the Fayette County Division of the American Heart Association.
“For the past few years, the event has raised about $125,000,” she said. “We have a lot of generous people who give from the heart.”
Proceeds from the annual black-tie optional dinner/dance support the heart association’s cardiovascular medical research and community health initiatives.
Presenting sponsor of the gala is Joseph A. Hardy III, owner of Nemacolin Woodlands Resort and Spa, the location of the event for the past eight years.
“When the committee thought about a theme that would mesh well with our event site, we thought about the 1920s, when the opulence and prosperity of that era enabled so many to embrace the American dream,” Mechling said.
“Jazz was emerging – along with swing dancing and great ballroom couples like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers, who captured the imagination of a generation,” she added. “Combine the fashions and flair of that time with the beauty of the Nemacolin resort, and we think guests will truly be transported to that carefree, earlier period in our nation’s history.”
Most of the people who attend the event are from Fayette County, according to Mechling. Companies, businesses, hospitals and individuals sponsor the event each year.
“We have sponsorships from local companies and businesses. Some of the local businesses actually buy tickets and invite several of their employees to attend the event,” she said. “But if a husband wants to bring his wife to the event as an early Valentine’s Day present, we think that’s great. We don’t exclude anyone from attending.”
Although individual ticket prices are set, the heart association does not discourage businesses or individuals from contributing additional money to the cause, Mechling said. These businesses are then designated as patrons. Since it is a charitable cause, she said it is tax deductible.
The event is held in February each year, but Mechling said the planning process begins as early as the previous May.
“The theme is discussed when we begin meeting in May,” she said. “Everyone throws in their ideas. We vote on the most popular ones, and then we start building on them. Everything that we do is a committee decision. One of the gala committee members suggested a 1920s theme during a meeting, and everyone really liked the idea.”
After the theme was selected, Mechling said, the committees began making plans for 1920s-style entertainment and decorations.
Carrying out the theme will be vintage accessories, larger-than-life champagne flutes and martini glasses, feather boas and strands of pearls.
“We plan to decorate the tables with ‘flapper’ head bands, feather boas in different colors and long strands of pearls, which were very popular during that era,” Mechling said. “Champagne flutes in different colors will also decorate the tables because champagne and liquor was free-flowing in the 1920s, so that’s part of our theme for this year’s gala.”
Mechling said gala committee members are encouraging female guests to dress as flappers, and their male counterparts to wear “zoot suits,” which were popular in the 1920s.
“Zoot suits are the baggy pants and long jackets that usually have pinstripes in them,” she said. “The guys wore black and white shoes. They also had long chains that hung down their legs.”
To keep in the spirit of the 1920s, Mechling said, the gala committee choose a band known as Dr. Zoot. Band members will be dressed in “zoot suits” in different colors and will play many numbers from the 1920s, as well as other popular and contemporary music. One of the band’s sets will give guests the chance to swing, foxtrot, mambo, cha cha, salsa or showcase their jump blues.
“We don’t really know what people are planning to wear to the gala yet,” she said. “We will know when they walk in the door if people decided to dress in 1920s attire.”
Gismondi said this year’s gala will feature “The Gatsby Fling,” where participants will have a chance to “fling for bling,” which is the latest slang for jewelry.
“The Gatsby Fling” operated by John Carom, owner of Abby’s Gold & Gems located at 197 Morgantown St., Uniontown, will allow participants to donate money for a chance to win jewelry.
“The center of the table will feature a pyramid of champagne glasses, and on either side of the pyramid will be glasses,” she said. “Of the 200 glasses, 20 of them will be in color. Participants will pitch candy hearts into the champagne glasses. If one of them hits a colored glass, they will win jewelry. Consolation prizes of gift certificates and a strand of simulated pearls will be awarded to the participants who do not win jewelry.”
Gismondi said the gala will feature live auction items this year, including a “Frank Lloyd Wright Progressive Dinner for Eight Guests.” The lucky bidder and guests will be treated to cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and a tour of Fallingwater and then be treated to a dinner at Kentuck Knob.
For the baseball fan, a tempting item will be the autographed baseball signed by Roger Clemens, seven-time Cy Young award winner.
Professionals will be drawn to the custom holiday decorating package, which includes a seven-foot artificial Christmas tree, professionally decorated in the successful bidder’s home, as well as custom Christmas mantel decorations.
Two more items for the upcoming Valentine’s weekend include the Ralph Lauren Tuxedo ensemble, one dozen long-stem roses and a five-pound box of chocolates.
The gala is only possible because of the volunteers who have provided the leadership necessary to make this event a success.
The steering committee includes: Mechling and Gismondi, co-chairs of the gala; Charmaine Sampson, sponsorship chairperson; Valerie Bacharach, auction chairperson; Holly Rabatin, program advertisements chairperson; Jes Hutson, public relations chairperson; Linda Esposto, event logistics chairperson; and Sandra Brittingham, live auctioneer and auction consultant.
Corporate sponsors include Joseph A. Hardy III, presenting sponsor; The Family of Leda F. Gismondi, gold sponsor; Advanced Acoustic Concepts, Fayette Engineering Co., Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield and Mrs. Eloise Eberly, silver sponsors. Bronze sponsors include Advanced Acoustic Concepts Coherent, Davis & Davis, First Federal Savings & Loan, Jackson Farms, National City Bank, O.C. Cluss Lumber, Shumar Welding, Specialty Conduit, Uniontown Anesthesia Associates, Uniontown Hospital and Wally Corporation.
Gismondi said more than 50 volunteers work very hard each year to make the gala a success.
“I would really like to give credit to the volunteers,” she said. “This event is a huge success because of all of their hard work. It wouldn’t be possible to have the gala without their help.”
For more information about the gala or any of the programs offered by the American Heart Association, call 724-437-2798.