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Photos courtesy of Hannah Home Ladies Auxiliary.
Tablescapes Hannah Home guest speakers
The Hannah Home Ladies Auxiliary has hosted notable speakers including Sister Schubert, left, and Patsy Riley, right, at previous events. Center is Auxiliary volunteer Marsha Drennen.
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Tablescapes Hannah Home
Francis McAleer stands with her creative display.
Rita Wood has been a volunteer with Hannah Home since the organization took shape in 2005. She remembers walking the dirt on which the current facility, built in 2007, now rests.
Since then, she and others from the U.S. 280 area have been on a mission to support the needs of homeless and abused women in the area by raising funds to keep the doors open. And one of the most effective means Wood employs involves transforming something ordinary into a spectacular scene.
“Anybody can decorate a table,” Wood said.
On April 2, Hannah Home Ladies Auxiliary will host its annual Spring Tablescapes Luncheon, an event that welcomes women from across the area to celebrate the art of tabletop decoration while raising funds for the home. For the event, more than 30 volunteer decorators will each turn a table into something more.
Wood said the event started six years ago, first taking place at Southern Living. The magazine featured the art of tablescapes, and Wood said it felt like a good fit. Unfortunately, holding it there turned out to be too complicated an endeavor to continue.
“We moved it to a church and just started doing it ourselves,” Wood said. “And that also meant local women would be able to decorate the tables.”
So, over the past five years, Auxiliary volunteers have brought their favorite china and special decorations to the event and each set a table. Wood said each table has a theme, and she’s seen some fascinating ones through the years. Firehouse Subs put together “Fire and Ice” one year, which featured an ice sculpture. She’s also seen a stepladder, a bicycle, a nativity scene, an umbrella and an Eiffel Tower as centerpieces.
“To this point, the only thing I haven’t seen is a kitchen sink or a bathtub,” Wood said.
The year before last, Wood’s table featured a wedding theme. She bought a wedding dress from the Salvation Army and used it as a tablecloth.
But it’s not simply about being creative, Wood said. The annual luncheon features a notable speaker, and past speakers include Patsy Riley, Phyllis Hoffman and Sister Schubert.
“We try to always find local women who are outstanding and mean something the community,” Wood said.
Another draw is the celebrity waiters for the luncheon, who in the past have included notable men like former University of Alabama and NFL football player Jeremiah Castille.
“The entire event is put together by volunteers, and all the money goes to Hannah Home,” Wood said.
The luncheon has raised as much as $20,000, which is donated in full to the home to cover operating expenses like utilities.
The 2014 Tablescapes Luncheon is scheduled for April 2 at the Metropolitan Church of God, located just off the I-459 Acton Road exit. Doors open at 10 a.m., and lunch is served at noon. The event includes both a live and silent auction.
Tickets are $35 and can be purchased by emailing elise@elisehearn.com or by calling 821-2270.
