Dale Stewart reports from New Lebanon.Partygoers were easily coaxed into joining in the square dance under a waxing crescent moon at the Shaker Museum Summer Benefit on Saturday, July 21, at the Darrow School in Mount Lebanon. The dinner and dance had a true countrified feel, right down to the noticeably vocal frogs in nearby Tannery Pond, the red bandanas used as napkins, and the lemon mousse Soma Catering served up in Mason jars. More than a hundred attendees were welcomed with a champagne reception, and encouraged to bid on silent auction items. The highlight of the ensuing live auction was an Ellsworth Kelly lithograph (in photo with Ted Lee, museum president David Stocks, and Vernon Evenson) which brought in nearly $20,000 for the museum. The big news of the night was a $100,000 matching funds grant from the Ellsworth Kelly Foundation.
Shaker Museum president David Stocks, Peter Hansen, Dr. Petra Krauledat, Board of Trustees chair Jeff Daly, and Doug Paul.
Gary Delemeester, George Hadley, and Dick Solomon; Barbara Polemis, Barbara Johnson, and Madeline Hooper.
Framers and gallery owners Jeff and Lori Risley; Christine and Mike Benson with Rob Williams.
Lowell Steinbrenner, Mary-Gail Biebel with John and Denise Dunne and Charles Knauss.
Michael Dupree, Paul Cassidy and Michael Fleisher; personal chef Tasha Gibson and DW Gibson.
Ellen Cole and Douglas North; Ian Hooper and Michael Polemis.
April and Greg Mountain; Lebanon Valley Business Association president Fiona Lally, Stephanie Aeder, and Peter Watson.
The Tannery Pond.
Written by
Matteline deVries-Dilling, founder of Lite Brite Neon, one of the evening's honoree of this year's Upstate Benefit adresses the gala from the Caboose's caboose.
- Karen Pearson. Courtesy Art Omi.
Olana senior vice president and landscape curatorMark Prezorski, president Sean Sawyer, The evenings honoree Kristin Gamble and New York State Assemblymember Didi Barrett.
- Oxygen House Photo
