PEACH WEEKENDER: AROUND TOWN

Around Town: Giving back

WINGS of Hope, a cocktail reception May 14 at Carranor Hunt and Polo Club, aided Good Grief of Northwest Ohio, a nonprofit organization established in 2012 to support children and families who have lost a loved one. Group sessions, trained facilitators, and parents/caregiver sessions are provided at no charge.

Alliene Liden, left, and guest speaker Kaye Lani Rafko Wilson attend the Good Grief of NW Ohio event.

Board president Cindy Taylor welcomed everyone, and emcee Stan Stachak kept the evening on target. But he also has a personal connection. When he was a boy, his father died. Then as a man, his wife died, leaving him with young children.

Guest speaker Kaye Lani Rafko-Wilson, 1988 Miss America, who is the executive director of Gabby's Ladder Family Grief Center in Monroe, consulted with Good Grief when it was being established.

Guest family Emily Carr and her children Emma and Aydin talked about their experience when their husband/father died and how Good Grief helped.

Julie Shapiro talked about the heartache she saw her stepson endure with the loss of his mom. Mrs. Shapiro was part of the honorary committee which included her husband Norm Shapiro, Pat and Len Bullard, Faye and Ramy Eidi, Alliene Liden, Judy and Kevin McFarland, Jen and James Sanderson, and Barbara Steele.

The evening ended with a candle lighting as a symbol of hope.

Director Elizabeth Tore reports an estimated net of $40,000. Thanks go to sponsors Shannon and Bill Gallup, Margy and Scott Trumbull, and Perfect Measuring Tape.

Toledo couples attend the local reception for Interlochen Center for the Arts, from left, are Sue and Jim White, Mary Ann and Jim Kline, and Polly and Tom Webb.

INTERLOCHEN Center for the Arts in Interlochen, Mich., founded in 1928 "to ignite lifetime passion for the arts" by inspiring, nurturing, and transforming young talents, is getting support from Toledoans.

Started as a summer arts camp, it has grown to include the Arts Academy, College of Creative Arts, Interlochen Public Radio, and Interlochen Presents, performances annually by students, faculty, and internationally known guest artists, including the Summer Arts Festival.

Tom Webb and his wife Polly Webb both have four generations of Interlochen support, since their families have summer respites up north. Then their friends Jim and Mary Ann Kline and Jim and Sue White took an interest while wintering in Naples, Fla., and were co-hosts with the Webbs for An Evening in Naples and Interlochen's Leading Ladies Lora Lee Gayer and Whitney Winfield at Audubon Country Club in Naples. Both performers, now professionals, studied at Interlochen.

Now the couples are back in Toledo for the season, and hosted an Interlochen promotion at Stone Oak Country Club with a performance by Joshua Lauretig, 19, who wowed the audience as he played his oboe. Mr. Lauretig, who performs in orchestras including Haddonfield Symphony in New Jersey and as a freelancer in the Philadelphia and Cleveland areas, was an Interlochen camper.

Illustrious Sir Keith Tuttle and Lady Kathy with fraternal Shrine parents Illustrious Past Potentate Jerry Argabrite and Lady Joyce.

THE Potentate Ball with a '50s and '60s rock-and-roll theme was held recently at Parkway Place in Maumee. Honored were Illustrious Potentate Keith Tuttle and Lady Kathy.

Special guest was Kayden Woodward, poster child for this year's hospital tabloid. He was a patient selected from one of the four area hospitals served: Lexington, Erie, Cincinnati, and Chicago. With him was his mother Marissa, brother Brenden, and grandparents Mark and Shannon Woodward.

Presenting him were event chairmen Joyce and Jerry Argabite, fraternal (host) parents. Standing by was their son Lee Argabrite, who drove the family to the hospital in Chicago.

Greg Trabbic, vice president of Rotaract Club of Maumee, left, with member Emily Florian, and Demetrius Nicodemus, 92.5 KISS FM “The Morning Rush” radio host.

ROTARACT Club of Maumee held its 10th annual Spring Strike Out this month at Timbers Bowling Lanes. Friends, families, and co-workers bowled for charities, raising $6,427.

Rotaract has supported groups including the Alzheimer's Association, Wolf Creek Y, Mom's House, and Prevention Partners of Wood County.

Supporters also donated gently used clothes to the Easter Seals drop-off.

Contact Blade Society Writer Barbara Hendel at 419-724-6124 or at bhendel@theblade.com