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From the Winter 2008 Edition of Clippings Magazine
You Shoulda Been There!
by Ed Bankcroft
If you weren’t there at the beautiful Huntington
Crescent Club on Thursday, Oct. 4th, you’ll
just have to be satisfied hearing about the
experience from those fortunate enough to be
there. It was the 25th anniversary of our parish’s
principle fundraising event, mostly known as the
Golf and Tennis Outing, but recently renamed
the Monsignor Joseph F. Colligan Memorial Golf
and Tennis Outing. It was an enjoyable day of
golf and tennis combined with wining and dining,
many prizes, live and silent auctions, a cocktail
reception, and a Roman-style feast. The daylong
celebration started at 7:30am with the Early
Bird Golfers Shotgun and ending reluctantly
after 9pm with tartufo, family style cookies
that "match the best Italy has to offer". But in between?
Well, let me tell you.
More than 100 corporate and individual sponsors
financed the affair, which attracted 134 golfers,
both duffers and wanna-be pros, and 32 tennis
players of various ages. If you got there really
early, say 6:30am, you could snag a continental
breakfast in the Pro Shop, and from then on, there
were available bagels, Danish, coffee rings, tea,
and soft drinks throughout the day. Nick Sudano
and Joe Carillo were in charge of the golfers and
the awards for that sport, while Louise Kelly and
Nina Doherty handled the tennis awards. A new
ministry in our parish, Hands of Angels, took
care of the challenging job of mailing invitations,
keeping track of raffle tickets and other needed
paperwork.
Rev. Kevin Smith, the evening’s auctioneer
An 11 o’clock brunch offered a wide variety to
athletes and guests alike from Eggs Benedict
and Belgian waffles to smoked ham and blintzes
with sour cream. There was some impressive
footwork and well executed backhands
on the tennis courts, long drives and on-the-money putting on
the greens. A 20-member committee, including
Grace D’Amato and Diane French, plus scores
of volunteers, kept the operation spinning along
all day, and when the tired athletes sought relief
towards the end of the day, there was the Cocktail
Hour. In the posh setting of the Mixed Grill, while
Jeanmarie D’Azzo at the piano sweetly tinkled
out a variety of show-tunes, the guests were
treated to what could be described as the History
of Hors d’oeuvres: beer battered shrimp, Beef
Wellington, linguini with white clam sauce, stirfried
beef with oranges, plates of stuffed grape
leaves, Clams Casino, roasted eggplant, and
other delectables from Italy, China, and Greece.
Keep in mind – these were the hors d’oeuvres!
During and after dinner in the ballroom well over
a hundred prizes, many of them quite substantial,
were given away. The well-known Rev. Kevin
Smith handled the live auctions like a pro. With
the spiel and aplomb of a professional tobacco
auctioneer, he invited bidding on such items as:
- One week in a villa on an 18-hole golf course
in Williamsburg, Virginia
- Honu Kitchen cocktails and dinner for eight,
including not only wine but each course
served and cleared by celebrity server
Monsignor Peter Ryan
- Dinner for four at Tupelo Grill, followed by a
limo drive to the Rangers vs. Washington
Capitals hockey game.
The silent auction, in which you toss purchased
tickets into a bowl in front of the prize you’re
interested in, was, as usual, of great interest.
People won dinners to restaurants, baskets
of cheer, books and bottles of wine, assorted
cosmetics, free massage, movie tickets, and
someone won 2 rota-dent electric toothbrush
sets.
The 50-50 prize, always of great interest, in which
half of the raffle money is awarded to one winner,
this year, went to parishioner Susan Kenny. If you
want to know how much she won, you’ll have to
ask her. You could ask Sister Eileen, who was in
charge of the 50/50 raffle.
Certainly the day was not over, because we
hadn’t had dinner yet. While still more prizes
were being given out, over 70 dinner guests
(dinner was optional) were served tri-color
greens with balsamic vinegar, prime rib to die for
with green beans with walnut butter and twice
baked potatoes. Dessert was apple crumb
cake, vanilla ice cream, and those tartufos I
mentioned before.
It was a memorable day. You shoulda been
there!
Msgr. Colligan with parishioners at a previous
Golf and Tennis Outing
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