NEWSLETTER: SUMMER 2010

CALENDAR

7/6   2:00 p.m. Tuesday
            Board Meeting
            LVIS

7/12  2:30 p.m. Monday
             Membership Meeting
             Maidstone Club

7/31  10:00 a.m. Saturday
               LVIS Fair
               LVIS Grounds

8/3  2:00 p.m. Tuesday
        Board Meeting
        LVIS

8/9 2:30 p.m. Monday
        Monthly Meeting
        Most Holy Trinity

9/7 2:00 p.m. Tuesday
        Board Meeting
        LVIS

 

LVIS AWARDS EIGHT $10,000 SCHOLARSHIPS

      It is that time of year again, when our hard working members get the opportunity to see the fruits of their labor, as LVIS awards $10,000 four-year awards and $5,000 two-year awards to East Hampton High School seniors. In a departure from previous years, the meeting was held at the East Hampton High School.
      Selecting the winners involves a painstaking process developed over the years by the Student Awards Committee, chaired by Debbie Walter. It involves allotting points for academic accomplishment, extracurricular activities and written essays. Some of last year’s recipients — who spent their freshman year at Dartmouth, Emerson College, Lehigh University,  Loyola College, Suffolk Community College, University of North Carolina, Villanova, and Wesleyan —  were also on hand to share their first-year experiences and offer advice to the 2010 winners.
     This year’s eight awards  bring the total distributed over the years to almost 260 — take a bow, ladies! The 2010 Winners are:

 

         Erica Barko, attending the University of San Francisco
         Samantha Harris, attending Tufts University
         Vaughn Jackson, attending Villanova
         Casey Nicoletti, attending,Hobart and William Smith Colleges
         Daniela Perez, attending Villanova
         Amanda Recupero, attending New York University
         Emma Shilowich, attendin Wake Forest University
         Louisa Vasquez, attending Northeastern University

 

    The Board recently announced that beginning in 2011 all East Hampton High School residents, including those in Amagansett, Montauk and Springs, will be eligible for the scholarships.

 

From left, Erica Barko, Casy Nicoletti, Daniela Perez,

Vaughn Jackson, Emma Shilowich, Amanda Recupero,

Samantha Harris, Luisa Vasquez.

 

WELCOME TO OUR NEW VOLUNTEERS

LVIS has a number of new volunteers and prospective members. Among them:

                           Joanne Conforti
                           Ann Hartner
                           Cathy Humphrey
                           Lucas Hunt
                           Tammy Makwinski
                           Ilissa Meyer
                           Rosa Maria Perez
                           Chris Savage
                           Mary Talley
                           Kristen Tulp
                           Sharon Wolter

Welcome aboard!

 

A 2006 SCHOLARSHIP WINNER KEEPS IN TOUCH

Dear Joan Ehren,

     My name is Lauren Schilling and in 2006 I was an LVIS scholarship winner. Now that I am coming up to my graduation from college, I wanted to send thanks to all the ladies at LVIS for contributing to my college education over the four years. I have spent much time enjoying everything the University of Notre Dame had to offer me. I was a proud member of the Marching Band of the Fighting Irish, a member of the university concert band, a teaching assistant for a multimedia computer application course, and a student associate to help professors incorporate new technologies into their classrooms. I am proud to say that in a few short weeks I will be a graduating member of the class of 2010 with a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry. Post-graduation I will be starting my job as a financial software developer at Bloomberg LP in New York City. I’m very excited to come back to New York and start the next phase of my life! Please extend my gratitude to the rest of the ladies at the LVIS. My scholarship helped me get to where I am today and I am truly grateful. Hope to see you at the Fair this summer.

 

Lauren at her graduation.

 

 

LVIS FAIR   SATURDAY JULY 31

 

Playland's Photo Booth

     If you have attended a wedding lately, you may have seen what Fair Chair Courtney Wingate and Vice-Chair Sarah Minardi are introducing to the Fair this year — a photo booth, complete with props like large sunglasses, boas and floppy hats. The booth will be mentioned in our ads to try to draw in an age group that has been under-represented in the past. The booth was not  expected to make any money, but rather to give youngsters more to do  while the adults shop. However, thanks to Vice-Chair Sarah, Saunders & Associates has agreed to underwrite the cost…. so the booth will now make a profit.
     The booth, which will be available for five hours, has side curtains, seating, a viewing monitor  and computerized voice instruction. A technician will be onsite to operate the booth and assist guests as they select color, black and white or a sepia tone for their prints.
     Participants receive two sets of prints, with the phrase “LVIS Fair 2010” on each set. LVIS will get a CD of all the photos, which should make a great bulletin board display in the lobby. We will also receive a professional DVD, set to music, which will include all the photos taken on the day of the Fair.

 

 Silent Auction on the Web

 

      In addition to the fabulous items accumulated by the Silent Auction’s Patti Ferrin, Nancy Skurnik, and their committee, including a beach house in Anguila, a 1982 Chateau Petrus valued at $5000, a beautiful home in London, rounds of golf at the best clubs, and so much more, there is an added feature this year. In deference to the increasingly important role the internet plays in so many lives, LVIS members, their friends and  families,  will have the opportunity to bid on a constantly updated list of items on the LVIS website www.lvis.org starting in early July. Each item will include a brief description, the value, a required opening bid, and bidding increments. The highest pre-fair  bid will become the first bid on the day of the Fair. Bids can be placed by calling, e-mailing,  or faxing the LVIS office. Pre-fair bidders will be able to check on the bidding on the day of the Fair via telephone. To view the catalog and bid onitems, go back to the Home page and click on the bottom banner. The committee is making an all-out effort to expand the reach of the auction this year, including a larger than usual newspaper ad, and is  counting on LVIS members to encourage others to place bids before the Fair and to visit  the website often in July for updates.

 

Round-trip Shuttle Bus

 

     Recent Fairs have resulted in major traffic problems, including a shortage of parking, and this year Guild Hall’s Clothesline Art Sale is also scheduled for July 31. To alleviate traffic nightmares,  parking will be available on the Gardiner property near Guild Hall for visitors to  the  Clothesline Art Sale and the LVIS Fair. A  shuttle bus  will make continuous round-trips between both events.

 

FAIR CHAIR COURTNEY WINGATE AND VICE-CHAIR SARAH MINARDI

 

     Courtney Wingate  and Sarah Minardi  have known each other for twenty five years.  They recall getting “dressed up” for what they so looked forward to —  FAIR day!
     Courtney is this year’s Fair Chair and Sarah is Vice-Chair, but as they put it, “We’re a tag team.” They both wax poetic about the sense of teamwork and the great assistance they receive from their committee chairs and General Manager Mary Anna Morris, confident that this will add to the success and fun of the 2010 Fair.  Needless to say, they aren’t doing any rain dances and are (secretly) hopeful that a bit of wind and fog rolls in so that the fair is packed with visitors.
     Not only might one say that these two young women bring their youth, beauty and brilliance to this year’s Fair, they are both experienced naturals in the public relations field, adding another ingredient to a great team.
     Courtney went off to college at SUNY Geneseo, had an internship at the United Nations, and settled in to the Wall Street world in marketing.  After a number of years, she returned with a career change in mind.  Courtney completed her M.S. in Guidance and Counseling at C.W. Post and has been working at the Springs School, hoping that she will land something permanent here in an East End school.  Since her return, Courtney has been coaching girls volleyball for the East Hampton School District and received  a  Coach of the Year award for Suffolk County in 2009. LVIS has been part of her for most of her life, as many family friends are members. She has helped at the Fair and the Easter Egg hunt, and chairs Barbecue for what is now the fourth year.  
     Sarah also recalls LVIS as always being a part of her life.  As the daughter of current Trees Chair Olivia Brooks, she recalls putting on her “little blue dress and eating pink cotton candy” at the LVIS Fairs. Sarah, who  received an LVIS Scholarship, was an English major at Middlebury College, but she always managed to find time to  volunteer  at  the  Fair.  She
worked in publishing in New York City before returning to East Hampton to, among other things, work on Wednesdays in Bargain Box, chair Playland for the Fair, serve on the Scholarship Committee, write for the Newsletter, assist in public relations, and chair the Nominating Committee in 2009.  Sarah is currently a real estate agent with Saunders & Associates.
     Both Courtney and Sarah love the traditions of LVIS, but have enjoyed incorporating some new ideas into this year’s Fair. One example — a photo booth, underwritten by Saunders, which will be an entertaining, exciting addition that will allow visitors to create their own memories of the 2010 Fair.
     See you at the FAIR,  ladies!

 

NOTES FROM THE BOARD

 

From June Board meetings:

 

• Revenue for Bargain Box exceeds the 2009 same-time figures in clothing, jewelry, knickknacks, furniture and the Annex.

 

• The gross figure for the 2010 Community Report is now at $38,175.

 

• The 2011 budget will include a line for the House Historic Fund, and the website will include this designation  on the donations page  should a donor wish to specify it as an area of particular interest.

 

• The Development Committee, chaired by Ann Davis, will host a workshop led by fundraising expert Richard Kerns. He has worked with hospitals and educational facilities and is expected to include endowment projects in his discussion.

 

• Sunday August 1 will be the rain date for the BBQ section of the Fair.

 

• A possible repaving of the driveway has been referred to the Grounds Committee.

 

• Unwanted visitors in the form of thousands of bees   were recently discovered in the wall of the Board room. Removal was accomplished by Rob Deichert and Sherrill Dayton.

 

LVIS BOARD OF DIRECTORS

 

 

 

A sample of the photos in the 2010 LVIS Report to the Community.

 

 

NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE

 

Colleen Rando, Chair

Joyce Tuttle Rickenbach, Vice-Chair.