By Mary-Justine Lanyon
This year it was Lorna Polley who was honored by the Arrowhead Arts Association at their gala, held at the Lake Arrowhead Country Club on Aug. 4.
As guests arrived, they were treated to the music of a string quartet made up of Addy Epstein, Hollie Mayhugh, Ezra Murray and James Phillips, all of whom studied with the strings program offered by Arrowhead Arts.
President Jeannie Venturini welcomed everyone and acknowledged the past honorees who were present. The main focus of Arrowhead Arts, she noted, is providing music education in Rim’s elementary schools. She thanked Diane Grady, who has been a major part of that education program but is retiring “for the second time.”
Past president and past honoree Ken Camarella invited everyone to the fall music festival, which will be held on Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. Maestro Tomas Golka will conduct the Arrowhead Arts Association Symphony, leading the 50-piece orchestra in the music of Tchaikovsky, Beethoven and Duke Ellington. The concert is free but guests must reserve a seat on the AAA website, www.arrowheadarts.org.
Following the dinner of filet mignon or salmon, Sharon McCormick saluted Lorna Polley saying that “every volunteer brings a gift. We need to make sure we honor people for the gifts they bring.”
She went on to say that Polley had donated the use of her patio for an Arrowhead Arts fundraising dinner. “She provided the tables, chairs, dishes, silverware, glasses. She said, ‘You just bring the food.’ Lorna volunteers for everything where she can be helpful. Her gift is she gives to all of us.
“People like Lorna make organizations sustainable.”
“I’m honored and humbled,” Polley said. And then she read these lines from Louis Armstrong’s song “What a Wonderful World”:
I see friend shaking hands
Saying “How do you do?”
They’re really saying
I love you.
And with that, the string quartet began playing the song for her. Then artist Midge Reisman presented Polley with a portrait she had painted of her.
McCormick then conducted first a live auction and then a reverse auction.
Items up for bid in the live auction included two original watercolors by Donal Jolley, a stay at the Lake Arrowhead Resort and Spa, a stay at the UCLA Lake Arrowhead Lodge, golf for four at the Lake Arrowhead Country Club, a stay at a tranquil mountain lodge, a stay at a guest house on a 10-acre ranch, a portrait of an animal or person by Midge Reisman and a cord of firewood and a basket of premium spirits.
The reverse auction started with bids of $2,000 and went down to $100.
After Venturini thanked everyone for coming, The Hodads began playing a wide variety of classic rock. A hardy group of dancers stayed until the last note was sounded.
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