Whether the draw is lunch at imaginatively decorated tables, a show of fun fashions or the company of a big group of service-minded women, the Latrobe Business and Professional Women’s Club has found a winning formula for its Spring Tea.
The tea was held March 16 in the Ramada Greensburg Hotel and Conference Center.
In her welcoming remarks, President Nicole Purnell said attendance was a sellout at 330, the largest crowd ever for the annual event.
As the club’s only fundraiser, Purnell said, the 2018 tea provided more than $8,500 to be distributed in the form of scholarships, high school achievement awards and philanthropy in the Latrobe-Derry area.
Purnell introduced Laurie Corbett as the Latrobe BPW New Member of the Year for 2018. Among many personal and professional pursuits, Corbett owns Eclectique, a downtown Latrobe boutique offering “handcrafted items, vintage gifts and fabulous finds.”
As husband Jeremy St. Pierre looked on, Marsha St. Pierre was recognized as the group’s 2018 Woman of the Year, for her long list of benevolent activities.
Purnell also shared this interesting bit of trivia: As a high-schooler, the Canadian-born St. Pierre was in a cooking class with actor Michael J. Fox.
Models Tracy Rocco, Michelle Teague, Stephanie Ankeny, Andrea Vick and Riley Belash modeled fashions from the YWCA Westmoreland Thrift Store.
More than three dozen tables displayed fanciful themes, such as Kara Gaia’s “Roaring Twenties,” Susie Mough’s “When You Wish Upon a Star” and Debbie Franco’s “Luau.”
Event chairwoman was Jean Calabrace.
Proving that it sometimes takes a village to get things done, the event committee included Angela Apple, Joelyn Aukerman, Barbara Baldwin, Nikki Cecchini, Jackie Elliott, Tracy Grace, Karen Laskie, Danette Meredith, Karen Mowry, Georgia Pavlik, Barb Planinsek, Michelle Stoops and Andrea Vick.
Also, Jan Poole, Grace Rigoni, Lisa Tatone, Michelle Teague, Ruthie Timlin-Shirey, Emily Tumbleson, Teresa Whitacre, Kerry Ozmelek, Tracy Rocco, Janet Riordan, Deneen Krowicki, Shelly Cottrill and Theresa Rusbosin, Latrobe club member who is also Pennsylvania state BPW president.
