On Friday May 9th, 200 friends and supporters of ETM gathered at the Pelham Country Club to honor ETM Chairman and Co-Founder Ed Schroeder as he "stepped up" to Chairman Emeritus. Mara Klein and Michael Ming and Katherine Elliott and Richard Ambramson chaired the event.
After a cocktail hour spent mingling, checking out the silent auction table, and chatting with special guest Miss USA 2008 Crystle Stewart, guests then moved into the dinning room for dinner. The crowd was treated to amazing performances of Grazin' in the Grass, by the St. Brendan after-school chorus (led by TA Phil Tambakis), and a joint performance by St. Brendan and PS 76 (led by TA's Stacey Small and Jessica Parr) of MC Boogie. Walter Handelman, ETM's Second Vice-Chair, then welcomed the crowd and spoke of his longtime friendship with Ed Schroeder, which stretches back almost 60 years. Walter spoke of Ed's "foresight, his hard work, and his deep personal involvement in this program" and that he was "proud to be his friend". Walter then presented Ed with proclamations from both the Mayor of Scarsdale and NY State Sen. Susie Oppenheimer, as well as a framed photograph of Ed and a group of ETM music students, and a special surprise – a Gala invitation that hand been signed by baseball legend Yogi Berra!
After enjoying dinner, the ETM staff had one more surprise up their sleeve for Ed – ETM TA Laura Portune seranaded him with Quando m'en vo from La Boheme, one of Ed's favorite operas. Guests were then treated to a live auction led by professional auctioneer Brian Mergan featuring items such as a luxury Indonesian vacation and dinner with Miss USA. The evening ended with dessert and dancing to the sounds of the Ward Marston Orchestra.
Special Thanks to:
- All of our volunteers from Credit Suisse
- Brian Mergan
- Photographer Jeff Gurwin
- Kerri and Kevin Sanford and Wireless First for the sound equipment
- Nicky McHugh
- Laura Portune and Raquel Borromeo
- Pablo and the entire staff of the Pelham Country Club
- All of our wonderful and generous supporters and donors!
- Laura Portune and Raquel Borromeo
(CLICK HERE to see photos from the benefit!)
