Creative types put their all into BC3 Luncheon for Literacy
While the sixth annual Luncheon for Literacy at Butler County Community College was held on Sunday, the elaborate book-themed tables occupied by those who attended are so elaborate they were set up the day before.
So instead of the finery they had planned to wear to the luncheon, groups who purchased one of the eight-top tables spent Saturday scurrying around Founder’s Hall in their jeans and sneakers, carrying all manner of unusual decorations to set up their tables.
Each table is decorated to match the theme of a book, and the 32 tables being decorated for the luncheon, which is a fundraiser for BC3’s Adult Literacy Program, did not disappoint.
Carol Ann Krelow, whose family company, JK Hydraulics, sponsored her table, worked with tablemate Lisa Snyder to outfit it to the theme of “The Giving Tree” by Shel Silverstein.
Krelow and Snyder laid a tablecloth picturing grass and topped it with a 6-foot artificial tree decorated with red apple ornaments, nature-themed plates with vines and flowers, a candy-filled red plastic apple as a favor at each place setting, a garland for each person at the table to wear, and other tree- and nature-themed items.
Perhaps the most impressive feature of the table was the two-dimensional figurines of the book’s human character, who ages from a little boy to an old man as the tree gives and gives until it can only offer a stump for the old man to sit on the end.
Krelow copied the character from the book in each phase of his life, enlarged them, cut them out, and glued them to cardboard before adding a small stand.
The characters appeared to look up at the tree on the table, as they do in the book.
“It’s all about giving and giving until you have nothing left,” Krelow said of book, “which we feel goes with the event.”
Mickey Stewart and Paula Curci worked on a table that had perhaps the most contemporary theme of all.
The friends decorated their table in a “Barbie” theme, with a pink tablecloth, pink place settings that included a white plate picturing Barbie and Ken, and a pink tiered centerpiece holding pink cupcakes with Barbie character picks in them.
Tiny Barbie characters and 4-inch Barbie key chains served as table favors, and Barbie confetti covered the surface of the table.
Most interesting were two 1960s Barbie dolls sitting primly on the table near the cupcakes.
“I didn’t have a Barbie doll when I was young,” Stewart said. “I had a Tammy. She was an Ideal doll.”
But Stewart and Curci both adore the “Barbie” movie, so they were thrilled to decorate their table in bubble gum pink and with Barbie characters.
“Here’s a mini Ken,” Stewart said, holding up a tiny version of Barbie’s one and only. “Not a mannequin, but a mini Ken.”
Curci was excited to be involved in her third Luncheon for Literacy.
“I’m so supportive of (BC3’s) literacy program,” she said. “I just think it’s so important to get people to read. It changes people’s lives.”
Everyone at the Barbie table was told to wear pink, and were given pink plastic sunglasses to wear as well.
“It was just fun doing it,” Stewart said of decorating a table for the second year. “I’m already thinking about next year.”
Loriann Putzier’s family company, Redline Performance Management, sponsored her sparkling table for the luncheon, which was outfitted in a “Diamonds Are Forever” theme from the book by Ian Fleming.
The centerpiece was a huge martini made of crystals strung together, and the requisite James Bond golden gun rested atop the shimmering cocktail.
A life-size cardboard cutout of Sean Connery as James Bond beside the table ensured the martini was shaken, not stirred.
The table was covered with faux diamonds and pearls, and shiny silver plates were topped with favors of a diamond-shaped lollipop and martini earrings.
Putzier explained that her husband’s friend is a James Bond fan, and she got the idea for the table while visiting him.
“I though ‘that’s a cool idea,’” she said.
Putzier said the life-size Bond was not hard to find.
“He was available on Etsy,” she said as she gazed at Agent 007. “There’s a whole James Bond section.”
Putzier said it took about four weeks to gather all the items to create the dazzling “Diamonds Are Forever” table.
“I travel with my work, so I was able to shop in the evenings in many different cities,” she said.
The Luncheon for Literacy is an event of the Butler PM Rotary Club, and is sponsored by the Butler Eagle and the college’s Adult Literacy Program.
Sue Edwards, a PM Rotary Club board member, decorated her table in an African savannah theme, which complimented the book “Mandela: An Authorized Portrait” by Mac Maharaj.
She said multiple club members purchased and decorated tables for the event to support BC3’s Adult Literacy Program.
“If you can’t read, you can’t get a job to become a productive citizen,” Edwards said.
She said each Rotary member brought a bottle of wine for the event’s silent auction, as well as 10 dozen cookies for the cookie table.
“It’s a lot of work, but after the tables are done, it’s fun to look at people’s creativity and what they are reading,” Edwards said.
Barb Gade, grant director for the BC3 Adult Literacy Program, said some of her favorite tables over the event’s 6 years have been “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” “Because of Winn Dixie,” and a Beatrix Potter themed table.
“It’s wonderful that the community supports this event so much and it’s a creative outlet too,” Gade said. “It’s something fun that you don’t normally get to do.”
She said every year, there is a plethora of themes and levels of decoration, and they are all perfect.
“It’s amazing to me how they are so creative and so willing to do this,” Gade said.
