The Scene In and Around Boston . . .
By Hilda M. Morrill
August 17, 2007
 At the Able Restoration’s “Second Annual Disaster Relief Golf Tournament,” the winning firemen foursome from the Taunton Fire Department take a moment to pose with Miss Massachusetts, Despina Delios, and the Golden Hose Award. Left to right: Scott McCone, Ms. Delios, Thomas Bernier, Russell Bradshaw and Wayne Cumbus. (Photo courtesy of Megan Ward)
Able Restoration recently hosted its “Second Annual Disaster Relief Golf Tournament” to benefit the Shriners Hospital for Children at the Atlantic Country Club in Plymouth. Proceeds from the fun and festive event will help the Shriners Hospitals provide comprehensive acute, reconstructive, and rehabilitative care to children with burn injuries.
“The reception we received here today was phenomenal,” said Jeff Sabel, Vice President of Able Restoration. “We would like to thank both the generous members of the community who attended today’s event and our dedicated committee members who helped unite all who are affiliated with disaster relief in support of Shriners Hospital. We look forward to our third annual golf tournament!”
“The tournament was a great success,” said David Faulkner, Director of Development at Shiners Hospital. “Through the generous support of the community and tournament sponsors the tournament grossed over $30,000.”
Able Restoration challenged firehouses across the state to raise funds for the hospital. The winning firemen received the “Golden Hose” award, which included four Patriots tickets and free pizza for their firehouse for a year. Congratulations and Best Wishes to all!
Spinazzola Foundation to Disband
The Board of Directors of the Anthony Spinazzola Foundation have announced that the Foundation will close its doors after 22 years of providing hunger and homelessness relief in Massachusetts. The closure will be effective August 31, 2007. As a result, the main events planned for 2008, The Anthony Spinazzola Gala Festival of Food and Wine, one of the highlights of the Boston social season, and the Spinazzola Celebrity Golf Tournament will not take place.
"The Spinazzola Foundation has had an unbelievable run for the last two decades," said Steve DiFillippo, Board Treasurer. "I don't know of any other event driven organization that has had the same kind of track record and impact that this organization has had. We are so proud of Chris, his family and the work and mission of this Foundation. We fully support Chris's very important and critical decision to focus on his wife and family. We haven't seen the last of Chris and the Spinazzola Family, they'll be back some day, continuing to do what they do best, make a huge difference in the lives of society's most vulnerable."
Since 1986, the Foundation has donated more than $2M to culinary education and training, more than $1M in support of hunger relief and homelessness and more than $1M to the Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Center. The Foundation’s signature event, the Gala Festival of Food and Wine attracted more than 4000 guests each year including world-renowned chefs and vintners and had been recognized as being of one Boston's most prestigious fund raising events of the year.
Chairman of the Board and Acting Executive Director, Chris Spinazzola, reflects on the work and mission of the foundation over the last 22 years:
“This Foundation has been a dream for me and my family since the first Spinazzola Gala to honor my dad in 1986,” said Spinazzola. “We could not be more proud of what we’ve accomplished in our mission to combat homelessness and hunger relief, and to sponsor young people in culinary arts. It's been a full-time commitment for me for over the last twenty years. Now it's time to focus on other priorities, and that starts with my wife and family."
Spinazzola's wife, Marjorie Clapprood, who recently underwent a bone marrow transplant, is recovering at home. In addition, Spinazzola is managing partner in the Stoneforge Restaurant and Christina’s Function Facility, both located in Foxboro.
The Anthony Spinazzola Gala was founded in April 1986, in memory of Anthony Spinazzola, long time restaurant, food and wine critic for the Boston Globe. The Foundation was formally established in 1992 to extend its focus to ‘feeding hungry bodies and minds,” making the support of hunger relief and homelessness a priority, while offering scholarships to inner city youth to pursue a career in the Culinary Arts, either through its Apprenticeship Program, or to more than a dozen colleges and universities throughout New England.
On a personal note, we thank the Spinazzola family members, especially the lovely matriarch Mrs. Dorothy Spinazzola, for their many courtesies and their friendship through the years—as well as for some truly memorable events. We’ll cherish our Spinazzola Gala memento wine glasses all the more now. Even as I type, I’m enjoying a libation from the February 7, 1997 Gala glass.
“Taste of Roslindale” is Scheduled
Mark your calendars for Friday September 28, when a “Taste of Roslindale” takes place at Annunciation Church, 7 VFW Parkway in Roslindale from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Organizers look forward to the “Taste” becoming an annual event.
Community activist Janice Williams tells us, “I am very excited, as Roslindale has always been a food lover's paradise; today in our tiny village, we boast five scrumptious bakeries, four fabulous food specialty shops, 11 stellar restaurants and a host of others offering pizza, calzones, tacos, ice cream and more. If you doubt me in any way, read the recent articles that have been in the Boston Globe about Roslindale's food Mecca at
http://www.roslindale.net/diningmenu.htm.”
Janice adds that, “There will be live entertainment by Hakim Law Jazz Quartet, a silent auction and our special guest will be Mayor Thomas M. Menino.”
The event is a benefit for two worthy causes: The Jason Roberts Challenger League, which provides sports for disabled kids throughout Boston, and for permanent holiday lighting for the Roslindale business district. The event is sponsored by Roslindale Village Main Street and endorsed by the Roslindale Board of Trade.
Only 400 tickets will be sold. To donate items for the Silent Auction or for information regarding sponsorship in the program book, please call Carol O’Connor at 781-492-0278. For tickets and more information, visit
www.roslindale.net/tastehomepage.htm.
Enjoy!
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Mitch Bobkin
Greater Boston Interior Designer Featured on
NECN's Dream House.
www.mfb-designs.com
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