New Jewelry For

One Lucky Gala Attendee

By Shannon Hicks

A black-tie gala is being planned to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the C.H. Booth Library. The event, called “Diamonds in the Sky,” will be held at Rock Ridge Country Club on Saturday, September 29. The event will include passed hors d’oeuvres, Tuscan table and dessert, cash bar, and a live auction of 14 hand-painted stars.

It will also include the raffle of a hand crafted pendant created by a designer at Quality Gem in Bethel. The star pendant holds 25 diamonds, weighing 1 carat total. It was created in 14 karat white gold. Tickets for the contemporary style jewelry will be sold during the gala, so someone will go home from that party with a new piece of jewelry. (Tickets for the necklace raffle will only be sold during the gala, so attendance on September 29 is mandatory for anyone who wants a chance at winning the pendant.)

Gala tickets are $100 each and while many have been being mailed out, a limited number are also available for purchase at C.H. Booth Library. Proceeds from the gala will be used to purchase a digital audio-visual projector to augment lectures, discussions, movies, and PowerPoint presentations in the library’s Olga Knoepke Memorial Meeting Room.

Fourteen artists have accepted the challenge of painting stars that measure about 26 inches at their widest point (each point is 13 inches to the center).

The public will have the opportunity to see all of the stars before they are auctioned off. An artists’ reception is planned at the library on the afternoon of Saturday, September 1.

The artists are expected to attend the reception, and silent bids will be accepted at that time for the auction. The order of the lots for the auction will also be determined that afternoon. The artists will draw numbers to determine their stars’ lot number.

Reverend Robert Weiss, pastor of St Rose of Lima Church, will serve as the auctioneer for the gala.

Details about the gala are available from Mary Thomas (426-9696), and additional stars will continue to be featured in these pages in the weeks leading up to the big event.