Meri Goyette Arts Award Lunch: Reserve Now

Now is the time to make your reservations for the 1st Annual Meri Goyette Arts Award Champagne Luncheon and Auction, to be held at Sky Meadow Country Club on April 6 at 11:30 am.  Reservations must be received by March 30.

The gala event, named for arts patron Meri Goyette, is the Nashua area arts community’s annual venue to recognizes contributors to the arts, feature local entertainment, and raise funds to support arts projects, programs and publicity.  It is presented by City Arts Nashua with the Nashua Arts Commission.

Mayor Donnalee Lozeau will preside at the awards ceremony, recognizing Goyette and another to be named individual for their contribution to Nashua’s lively arts scene.

The gala begins with a silent auction, accompanied by Mike Loce.  Known for heading the Nashua Ukestra, Loce will entertain bidders with selections on his other instrument of choice, the guitar.

“Local business and individuals have been very generous in their donations and we have a variety of exciting items up for bid,” commented Kath Hersh, president of City Arts Nashua. “The auction items are listed at www.cityartsnashua.org and will be updated frequently,” she added.

A live auction, with Sy Mahfuz of Persian Rug Gallery, will feature six chairs painted by local artists as well as other items like an African safari trip, tickets to a Red Sox game donated by BAE Systems, and a round of golf for four at Sky Meadow.

The chairs, painted by Dotty Silber, Carla Sullivan, Manuel  Ramirez and Cecilia Ullibari, Rebecca Fredrickson, Natalie Carr and an anonymous donor, are on display at Persian Rug Gallery and Glorious Possibilities on Main Street.

A highlight of the gala is the entertainment at each of the three courses of the luncheon.  

During the salad, Peacock Players cast members will present “Who I'd Be” from the 2014 New Hampshire Theatre Award-winning Best Youth Production Shrek - The Musical, starring Nick Page (as Shrek), Mac Galinson (as Donkey), and Julia Enos (as Princess Fiona) and “You'll Be In My Heart” from the upcoming New Hampshire debut of Disney's Tarzan, starring Julia Enos (as Kala).

New Hampshire's Poet Laureate Alice Fogel will read a selection of her poems during the main course. Fogel, both a poet and educator, authored "Strange Terrain: A Poetry Handbook for the Reluctant Reader," that help make poetry accessible to everyone. The Boston Globe says ""Fogel's perspective fascinates . . . has its own concrete effect on the heart." 

While enjoying dessert, Daniel Swain, dance coordinator at Positive Street Art and Nina Cabral of Northern Ballet Theatre will perform  a brief history of dance.  Swain and Tina Cassidy, Artistic Director of Northern Ballet Theatre  collaborated to choreograph and create the original dance piece, including a unique music mix, that shows how musical expression translates into dance showing the commonalities between more structured forms of dance such as ballet and the current street dancing/expression movement.

Sponsors for the event are TD Bank, the Nashua Radisson Hotel, R. J. Finlay 30 Temple Street, Allstate Insurance, Beckonings, and Ikebana Flower.

Reservations for the event are $50 per person, with no tickets available at the door.  To keep updated on the auction items, and to make your reservations this week, go to www.cityartsnashua.org where you can download a reservation form to mail with a check or pay by credit card on line.  For questions call 883-8093.