Youth of the Year
(Photos courtesy of Grenville Club)
Grenville Baker Boys & Girls Club held a Blue & White Gala for its 68th annual June Dance at The Creek Beach Club on June 2. More than 350 people were in attendance to applaud this year’s Hall of Fame inductees and the club’s New York State Youth of the Year, Larissa Izaguirre.
The induction marked the 10th anniversary of the club’s Hall of Fame. The list of inductees included Eileen Duffy, Elizabeth and Frank Ingrassia, and Jean and Scott Simensky. The Dance Committee, chaired by Andrea Cilmi, Libby Imperio, Dawn Kallman and Melissa Meister, worked hard to develop the gala’s theme for this fun event using a color scheme of blue and white mixed with accents of pink and orange throughout.
Cocktails were served against the backdrop of the Long Island Sound. During the cocktail hour, Judge Colin O’Donnell, a club alumnus, past president, and current board member, introduced each inductee and presented them with an award and a community brick to be placed at the club’s entrance. The honorees and our Youth of the Year also received a citation from Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor Joseph Saladino, Legislator Josh Lafazan and Senator Carl Marcellino.
After cocktails, dinner was served and the evening’s ceremonies began in the enormous tent decorated by Scarsella’s Florist of Syosset. Executive director Ramon Reyes spoke and thanked the community for supporting the club to make Locust Valley a wonderful place for children to grow up. As the club’s last Youth of the Year, Colin O’Donnell introduced this year’s winner Larissa Izaguirre, who spoke about how much the club has meant to her and announced that she will be attending Gaucher College in Maryland this fall.
Two raffles were drawn: one for a Hermes Birkin Bag and one puzzle raffle for a $500 gift certificate to Americana Manhasset. The live auction items included: the Esperanza Resort in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, the Twin Farms Resort in the Green Mountains of Vermont, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, a private dinner party at Maroni Cuisine, a cocktail party at La Joaillier Fine Jewelers, front row seats to a Dennis Basso Fashion Show and an elegant dinner and wine tasting at a private Feeks Lane address. Sponsorships were secured for the club’s college prep, basketball program, membership and programs, and the Thanksgiving dinner and holiday party.
The silent auction included: signed NBA jerseys, golf foursomes at all the local clubs, tickets to sporting events, a U2 concert and Broadway’s Hello Dolly, Book of Mormon, A Bronx Tale, and Come From Away among other fun items.
Each year since the first June dance in 1950, this gala event has been Grenville Baker’s single largest fundraising event, making it possible for the club to fulfill its mission to inspire and enable all young people to reach their potential as productive, responsible, and caring citizens and community leaders of tomorrow. After the live auction, an enthusiastic group of party goers danced the night away and this annual event was once again an enormous success.
