Last week I had the honor and a privilege to plan, coordinate, and host our annual Gala for The Arc of Rensselaer County honoring a devoted member of our community, Diane Dearborn, with our Henrietta Messier award. Diane has selflessly blazed the path for other parents acting as a friend, mentor, and support helping them navigating the challenges she knew all too well and become a fierce advocate in our community. Diane's commitment to empowering others is truly inspiring.
Thank you to Willow Baer and Erik Geizer for coming to speak and to Amsure, Complete Network, Callanan Industries, Inc, Pioneer, Northway Toyota, ONEGROUP Risk Management and Insurance, Barclay Damon LLP, Capital Regional Pharmacy Services, Von's Airline Service, Bond, Schoeneck & King PLLC, and The Bonadio Group, and Bouchey Financial Group, Ltd. for sponsoring this event.
For the planning details:
I found an absolute gem of a venue: URC at the Venue. (owned by The Ugly Rooster Cafe). It was previously a church that was renovated into this event venue.... complete with the coolest speakeasy downstairs. It was a really fun way to kick off an event and set a great vibe for the evening. Their catering/food was absolutely incredible, it was an elevated yet comforting menu. My favorite part - the pie bar! From set up, take down, food service, and everything in between they were a great venue to work with. As with any event there ends up being hiccups, our hiccup of the night was their credit card processing crashed during cocktail hour - I seem to be a jinx for technology issues at events - but they went out of their way to solve the problem and keep guests happy so what could have been disastrous was barely noticed. I think I would have hard time finding a team as dedicated and generous as they were.
For any event I plan I try to tie in "messaging" wherever I can, which is the thing I am most proud of anytime I look back on events. For this event the centerpieces were various colored bud vases sitting on top of mirrors to bounce the light/glass from the beautiful stained-glass windows. The vases contained flowers grown from the beautiful garden at our Brunswick Center Services location, which is maintained by the people we support. I made all of our own table signs and printed materials, down to the invites using Canva and some graphic design magic. All with hidden "arc" elements and playing off of the flower/garden theme of our centerpieces. These are the details that give me an immense amount of joy.
It was a great night, and I am looking forward to next year..... now off to our Community Partners Breakfast. We will be hosting that November 7th at the Hilton in Troy. If you are interested in sponsoring one of our events and would like to learn more about the "WHY" behind what we do, the breakfast is a great event to be a part of for that! You can message me anytime or email [email protected]. I am always seeking partnerships to help our community!
