Aug 31, 2007
Return to elegance in Redding
Club invites public to an afternoon tea
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by FRAN SIKORSKI
There are tea parties with Teddy bears, dolls and little friends, and there are tea parties with grown-up friends who enjoy the traditional ritual in an elegant setting with refreshments delicate to the palate and warm conversation with good friends.
The public is invited to the traditional ritual on Friday, Sept. 14, when the Redding Garden Club presents “An Afternoon Tea” at Clemens Restaurant in West Redding. Owner Ewa Ojarovska is transforming the dining room into a proper tea tasting room for the occasion, featuring Harney & Sons Fine Teas where guests will sample English Breakfast, Earl Grey Supreme, Darjeeling, and Paris Teas from around the world. Coordinating the event are Redding Garden Club President Sharon Epstein and event Chair Catherine Streit.
There will be two tea seatings, from 1:15 to 2:30 and from 2:45 to 4. A 15-minute early arrival is suggested for each seating.
Featured guest
The featured guest speaker is Pearl Dexter, founder of The Tea School, established in 1999 to give people serious about tea a firm foundation. Ms. Dexter is also editor and publisher of Tea: A Magazine, which has a “growing presence on newsstands,” according to Ms. Dexter. After living in England for eight years, she established the Olde English Tea Room in her 18th Century home in Scotland, Conn., in 1986. She began teaching tea classes, marketing Aunt Pearl’s Homemade Scottish Shortbread, and presenting afternoon teas, including children’s teas. She has taught classes and has spoken on The History and Pleasures of Tea throughout the United States.
Coordinators of the Sept. 14 event said the tea expert will take her listeners on a tea journey around the world, starting with the legendary discovery of tea in ancient China, then to Japan, Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, India, Russia and Europe. She will speak about the influence of tea in England and America’s contribution to the tea industry from the Revolutionary War throughout the romantic clipper ship era and into the 20th Century.
Book signing
The author of several books, including Tea with Presidential Families, co-authored with Beulah Munshower Sommer, Ms. Dexter will also have a book signing, and will donate a subscription to Tea: A Magazine as a door prize.
Lavishly illustrated with photographs, prints and original works of art, many never published before, Tea with Presidential Families highlights the tea history of all 41 first families and has become the No. 1 tea book of the 20th Century. While tea is just a beverage to some, to Pearl Dexter “it’s a way of life.”
Ms. Ojarovska said during an interview she attended Pearl Dexter’s Tea School and also the School of Protocol and Etiquette in Washington, D.C. She was with the exclusive Palm Court at the Plaza Hotel and at the Hyatt Hotel in Phoenix, Ariz. Ms. Ojarovska also has her own event company, Ewa & Company, and has won awards for her presentations. She is currently arranging private bridal teas at Clemens Restaurant, and would like to “open up” to the public for afternoon tea.
Harney & Sons Fine Teas are served at Clemens Restaurant. They are also the Queen’s Tea in London and at Windsor Castle, and served at the Dorchester Hotel in England.
Theme decorated
Theme-decorated tables, such as Asian, Halloween, nautical, and a tea-related boutique with gifts made by garden club members will also be featured at the Sept. 14 event. Raffle co-chair Ruth Moran and Tina Nocom have assembled a large number of raffle gifts including a gift certificate for loungewear at the Candlelight Shoppe in Ridgefield, a bird bath from Hollandia, a fresh lavender arrangement from Earth Garden, candy from Hauser Chocolatier and more.
Presented on tiered stands for An Afternoon Tea will be assorted teas and sandwiches — smoked salmon and dill, cucumber and radish, ham with Boursin and peppered cress, Asian chicken salad, smoked turkey with apple and cream cheese — assorted miniature quiches and warm classic scones. A selection of miniature desserts, chocolate-dipped strawberries, petit fours, lemon pastries, chocolate ganache squares, linzer hearts, cream puffs, and European butter cookies will be presented on each table.
Tickets
Tickets for An Afternoon Tea are $35. The event is suggested for children 10 and over. It is suggested that “women wear their fanciest afternoon tea hats.” Seating is limited. Reservations must be made by Sept. 5. For more information, call Catherine Streit at 664-1191 or Sharon Epstein at 938-9199. Proceeds of An Afternoon Tea will go toward the Redding Garden Cub civic beautification program, the club scholarship fund, Arbor Day program at Redding Elementary School, flowers to seniors and hospice care.
Founded in 1954, the Redding Garden Club meets the third Monday of the month (subject to change) at the Redding Community Center. Dues are $25 a year. There is a $4 charge for a non-member to attend a meeting.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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