Start The Adventure In Reading (STAIR) celebrated its 29th anniversary with a party attended by more than 250 long-time supporters, tutors and volunteers on a chilly fall evening at the Garden District home of Suzanne and Matt Wisdom, as well as Carol and Joe Lacey.
Honorary Chair of the event was Susan Larson, host of WWNO’s The Reading Life and author of The Booklover’s Guide to New Orleans.
Party decorations were inspired by the J.M. Barrie classic, Peter Pan. Guests dodged hungry crocodiles and mischievous fairies en route to adventurous cocktails. They reveled in sumptuous cuisine from a plethora of local eateries and local libations purveyors before swinging to an auction’s worth of pirate booty from donors. The loot included gifts from the Roosevelt Hotel, Mignon Faget, Karla Katz Antiques, Besh Restaurant Group, Azby’s, Bourbon Orleans, Fore!Kids Foundation, Omni Hotel and Massey’s Professional Outfitters, as well as a special door prize, a $500 shopping spree from Wellington & Co. Fine Jewelry.
Wild entertainment from the Courtyard Kings, courtesy of the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation and Jonathan Kyle and the Heavy Seven Jazz Band capped off the evening’s festivities.
STAIR’s after school program provides free one-on-one reading tutors to at-risk second graders at 29 sites serving more than 30 participating schools in Orleans, Jefferson, Plaquemines and St. Tammany parishes. Funds from this event, coupled with the ongoing support provided to STAIR over the years, allows STAIR to provide this program at no cost to students or their families..
EVENT AT A GLANCE
What: “STAIR Affair” benefiting Start The Adventure In Reading
When: Thursday, November 13, 2014
Where: 2507 Prytania St.
