As our Peru 2012 team prepares for their Learning Opportunity in March Break they are attempting to raise funds for their trip. This year we decided to ask Fred if he'd once again host a dessert concert with/for us. He graciously agreed to.
On Thursday, Nov 4th, the group set up the church in preparation for the big event. We move all our couches into the sanctuary (I've discovered we have a lot of couches in our church) and put the piano in the centre. This gets us up close and personal during Fred's concert. Jeannine, Fontana, Yvonne and maybe Tobie/Lucy all showing off their lifting skills.
Couches, couches and more couches.......
Furniture was also used for placing coffee cups and desserts on.
Here are Wilma and Andrea getting things organized on the stage. I'm not the greatest interior decorator, so I delegated. They did a fantastic job.
Here's Madii preparing our donation envelopes.
Always a smile on her face.
Madii and Mina meet for the first time. No time for small talk. Time to get to work. : ) Nah, the two of them could talk your ears off.....really! : )
Ben thought up a neat design for placing the desserts on. I never knew he was that creative. I liked it.
The finished product. We turned the sanctuary stage into a cozy concert place. I can hardly wait until tomorrow night.....I wonder how many will show up....hmmmmmmm
The fellowship hall ready for our patrons to arrive. It's Friday evening now and we have set things up. We have coffee perking, desserts being cut, and tables set up for socializing before the concert.
Here are some of the group getting their desserts ready. They all looked yummy. : )
A twist on Ben's design, but looking good.
ummmmm....well....yes.....that's BEN! : )
Ian hard a work cutting the cake he bought.
I guess not everyone made something from scratch.
Fontana working hard, as well as Megan and Tobie and Lucy. Everyone pitched in really well and things were set to go quite quickly and smoothly. I love it when a plan comes together. : )
Wow, this looks really good.
I wonder who made it? No, it surely wasn't me.
The desserts cut and ready to come into the fellowship hall for consumption.
Our welcoming committee of Madii and Jeannine...hey,
how'd Ella get in there......
Our guests started arriving shortly before 7 pm. There was a social time from 7 - 7:30 pm. People could grab a flavoured coffee and select from lots of different desserts and then socialize for a bit before Fred's concert. I see Madii's still smiling. Her and Jeannine's role was to welcome everyone, explain the evening, and yes, make sure they all got a donation envelope. This is a fundraiser after all. : )
The coffee's were perking, and the desserts just kept coming....as did the guests. Awesome.
Megan and Tobie make sure the dessert tables are kept full.
Other's made sure the coffee and the desserts disappeared.....awesome... : )
Gaelen all smiles.
Sandy looks like he's taking this dessert thing very seriously.
Remember how I said that there was social time between 7 - 7:30 pm. Seems that Harry didn't get that memo. I looked into the sanctuary as I was passing by for something, and there was Harry. All by himself with his dessert. I sauntered over to see what he was up to. He asked me where everyone else was, including Fred. He's late...the concert was supposed to start 10 minutes ago.
I laughed, and so did Harry after I explained to him the 7:30 start. On the positive side, Harry has a great seat....and he wasn't about to move. : )
This picture must have happened just before 7 pm, because I see Harry's in it. At least he got SOME socializing in.
As did many others. We had 80 people show up for the concert. A great turnout.
Jeremy talking with mom and Tammy. Jeremy didn't know it yet, but he was about to become part of the evening......stay tuned.
The ladies enjoying coffee, dessert, and social time.
We even had a contingent of young adults come to the event. Cool. Well, Melanie on the left is actually going to Peru, but the other two came to support. Thanks.
We even had a contingent of the really young come out. They must be future classic concert enthusiasts.
I see my wife and daughter finally showed up.
What a crowd.
Just before the concert began everyone came into the sanctuary and picked their spots.
There weren't enough couches, so the overflow took to the pews. I don't think they minded at all. They were all looking forward to Fred's concert.
Oh, and there he is. Doing an air concert.....hmmm, I don't think that's what they came for Fred....quit clowning around and start heating up those keys will ya.....the pressures on you know. : )
As the concert began, the Peru group began to clean up dishes and replenish desserts for intermission time.
I guess people nominated Ian for dishwasher detail.
I understand he did a wonderful job.
Remember I said Jeremy was going to be part of the concert. Well, he ended up being a page turner for Fred's first piece. That's actually a very stressful job. You have to follow along and turn pages fast, but at the right time. Jeremy did a great job. Fred thanks him as he bows from the applause.
Then it was time to get down to concert business. I scooted in and out of the concert. You could have heard a pin drop in the place as Fred played. The keys were plenty warm by the time intermission arrived.
Here's everyone grabbing another coffee and last minute dessert as they socialize during intermission.
Some desserts we simple and clean, others simple and messy. Here's Larry grabbing something messy, but I bet very delicious.
Wow, what a mess. A delicious mess.
Time to clean up after intermission.
Lots of dishes to do and desserts to clean up.
A larger panoramic shot of the sanctuary with everyone listening.
Fred took a few minutes after each piece to talk with the members of the audience. He explained the pieces he would be playing.
This piece was solely for left handed playing. Being a left handed person, I was quite please to see Fred doing this. I didn't even ask him to. : )
After the concert, we figured out we had a lot of desserts left over. A guest suggested we wrap them up and sell them for $5 a plate. A good idea. We ended up making an additional $100 that way.
It soon became clean up time.
Time to put all those heavy couches back again.
It wasn't always easy getting them down the stairs. This one belongs in the youth room, and it was one of the heavier ones. Thank goodness we had strong backs helping us.
Megan and Madii lifting the smaller, but no less essential elements of our furniture.
Jackie and Phil doing the last minute furniture clean up.
All in all a wonderful event. All who came really enjoyed the concert (and the coffee and desserts too, I hope). Thank you VERY MUCH Fred for donating your talent and skills for our Peru cause. I know you believe in what we are doing.
Thanks to all who came out to support the Peru Team. Your donations helped us raise just over $2,900.
Thanks to the Peru Team who worked hard to ensure all who came out had a wonderful time.
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