Tuesday evening from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. on November 14, Assistance League of the Bay Area opened its doors to eager holiday shoppers.

Transformed into a winter wonderland, every nook and cranny of the area featured beautiful displays of home décor, as well as fashions suitable for the numerous upcoming festivities.  In conjunction with the Holiday Extravaganza Preview Party, the chapter premiered its first-ever Dress-a-Tree contest results.  Forty-two community artists and chapter members decorated 3 ft. trees that were available for purchase that evening.  The themes were as varied as the number of participants.

Dr. Rhonda Elizein, M.D., was awarded the coveted prize of being selected as the winning tree designer, entitled Mistletoe Mannequin.  As a result of her tree being selected, she will receive a $100 gift card.

In addition, the league displayed two trees, the Star and Assist-A-Child, to raise awareness about two funding initiatives that are offered to assist in providing the necessary money for the six philanthropic programs the chapter manages.  Stars and Assist-A-Child cards can be purchased at the shop at any time during the year.

Savannah Café and Bakery generously donated all the goodies for shoppers to consume browsing and selecting items for purchase.  Not one morsel of food was left!

Brooks Cima was the lucky winner of the Mariana jewelry raffle.  The beautiful set was donated by Gail Ashby, proprietor of The Little Pink Bag.  This raffle was the first of two being offered in conjunction with the chapter’s upcoming Carnevale di Venezia Charity Ball.

“We were thrilled with the outcome of this event,” stated Yvonne Perrin and Carol Latimer, Resale Shop Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively.  “We had a great sub-committee chaired by Brooks Cima, planning and executing this, great response from the community and our members with the Dress-a-Tree contest, fantastic support from Savannah Café and Bakery who donated all the delicious treats for the evening, and a great staff including two Assisteens, Ashley Comin and Meredith Caldwell.  It was truly a team effort.”