Candlelight Dinner to benefit Tateuchi Center

Marilyn Herzberg, Cathi Hatch, Kathy Surace-Smith, Karen Lytle

Last night, Ken was happy to stay home with his knee elevated while I joined Chuck & Karen Lytle, who are Tateuchi Center Capital Campaign Co-Chairs at their table at the Bellevue Hyatt Regency for the 2010 Candlelight Dinner presented by the ACT One Guild to benefit the Tateuchi Center.  The ACT One Guild was proud to add to their already raised $1 million funding during the past few years to support the Endowment Fund.

We were welcomed by Melanie Bruch, President of the ACT One Guild.  The tables were a-blaze with votive candles in oversized candle towers and floating candles and orchids in tall vases. The Lytle's other table guests included Marilyn Herzberg, Patti Payne, Kathy & Brad Smith, Ann & Tom Gores, and Lynn & Craig Schrontz.  Being a guest at the Lytle table is always a treat because Chuck brought some special wine from his cellar.  My favorite was the 1996 Napa Valley Pahlmeyer Merlot which had received a 98 point Robert Parker rating.  At our table, we referred to it as "Ten Buck Chuck"!



Lizabeth Morrow-Nold & Cathi Hatch

 I ran into Joan & Bob Wallace when I first arrived and later had the chance to meet their son, Kevin Wallace, who serves as a Bellevue City Council Member. Some of the other attendees included Tateuchi Center Board President, Peter Horvitz, Capital Campaign Co-Chairs, Betty & Kemper Freeman, newest Board member, Patti Edwards, Board member Ed Springman and his wife, Jane Hague, King County Coucil Member. There was also a contngent attending from the Tateuchi Center ACT Two Guild leadership including three from the Corporate Sponsorship Committee; Vice President, Michele Phillips-Baransky, Secretary Lizabeth Morrow-Nold, and 2010 Artist Mozelle Spencer. Joining them at their table were Stacy & Greg Lill, Columba McGlynn, Stacy & Geoff Chambers, Carri & Sean Miller, and Mark Allison.

Suzuki Method Musicians, PNW School of Music

As part of the dinner program in addition to the Deems Tsutakawa Trio, we had the opportunity to hear from the Suzuki Method Musicians from the Pacific Northwest School of Music including the tiniest young violinists I have ever seen that were maybe five or six years old.  During dessert, we also had the opportunity to hear from two accomplished pianists, Timothy Beuca and Natalya Ageyeva, and were serenaded by Marcus Shelton, tenor.  Each artist was really outstanding, but it was Marcus, the tenor, who brought tears to my eyes when he sang Nessun Dorma from "Turandot" and finished with a song from "Les Miserables".

Following the entertainment, David Silverman did a masterful job as Emcee of picking up the pace and helped raise another $135,000 during the Fund-A-Need to benefit the Tateuchi Center Endowment Fund.