Another Fine Mess - Splatters

The Centers for Youth and Families

Another great chairwoman, as Annamary Thompson again leads the committee for Centers for Youth and Families Splatters art auction and golf tournament. The 8th annual live and silent auction featuring, of course, art! From platters to canvas, art enthusiasts will be able to bid on fine art from well-known Arkansas artists such as Matt McLeod, Beverly McLarty, Pat Matthews, Sammy Peters, Stephano and Barry Thomas. The event held on Sunday, October 12th @ 6:30p at the Pleasant Valley Country Club is the kickoff to The Centers Classic Golf Tournament held the following day.

Annamary and husband Greg, who co-chairs the Auction/Art committee with Alese Stroud, were married earlier this year. The pair brings unparalled art expertise to the committee. Greg is an art dealer and consultant whose clients include Helen Walton's Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Northwest Arkansas, the UAMS Tower Building, and most recently, Camp Aldersgate's expansion. Annamary is a practicing attorney and the proprietor and owner of Hot In Little Rock.

New to Splatters' silent and live auction this year will be juried art. Thirty-eight artists, upping the caliber of art and auction items, submitted pieces that were then juried by a committee of qualified individuals. The Top Ten list of pieces, as well as the other submissions, will be available to purchase both in an on-line auction and at the Splatters event. "We actually have a Top Twelve list," Annamary told me at a recent lunch date at ZAZA. "We had a tie, and just couldn't decide on only ten!"

The day after the Splatters event, The 18th annual Centers Classic Golf Tournament will be held at the Pleasant Valley Country Club. With morning and afternoon tee times and over 200 golfers participating in this premier golf tournament, the Tournament is just as successful and fun as the Splatters parties!

This "Sample Palette" of auction items, many of which Annamary and Greg and other committee members used personal connections to secure, are simply unprecedented. "Im really excited about the live auction items," Annamary shared. "Although the auction is initially about the art, these items are definitely appealing to both art connoiseurs and those who are more interested in other big ticket items." Items include an interactive cooking class for 10 children by Chef Lee Richardson of Ashley's at the Capitol Hotel with personalized aprons. "It has even been suggested that we include some of the Centers Children in this cooking class," Annamary revealed hopefully.

A weekend package for two at the four-star Alluvian Hotel in Mississippi, complete with a Viking Cooking Class, is also up for grabs. Most excitingly for those looking to replace or renew a kitchen, the Splatters auction will feature the "Ultimate Culinary Cooking Package" by Viking Range Co. Get out a notebook, and write this down, folks, because you will need to go into your kitchen and take inventory, imagining these new items nestled into your home: A Convection Oven, 5 qt stand mixer, food processor, blender, 2 slot toaster, hand blender, 10 pc cookware set, (I need that!) 13 pc cutlery in drawer storage, all in coordinating style. Seriously.

A hog hunt for four at McClendon Hunting Lodge, a Brady Mountain Resort stay for 4 days/3nights in a newly built 1600sq ft. home, and a steak dinner for 30-40 people at the home of Shirley Davis or at her lake house in Hot Springs are nothing to scoff at either. And the party at Shirley's? Chef Randy Lann will be at the grill. He cooked at a recent birthday I attended, and, I must admit, I came out of the non-meat eater status and devoured one of his succulent pieces of beef. Delicious.

Centers for Youth and Families is grateful to the support of IQ Financial Services, Inc. and Dover Dixon Horne, PLLC. These organizations are the 2008 headline sponsors for Splatters: Another Fine Mess and The Centers Classic Golf Tournament. Although these companies are already on board, sponsorship and golf opportunities in many levels are still available.

Serving on the 2008 Splatters Classic committee is Annamary Thompson (chair); Leign Ann Crain (Splatters Platters chair); Alese Stroud and Greg Thompson (Auction co-chairs); Sheila McClarty (Tickets Sales chair); Kevin Odum (Golf chair); JC Halsell (Sponsorship chair); Tiffany Robinson (Publicity chair) and Barbara Hastings (Volunteer chair).

For more information about The Centers for Youth and Families and its programs, The Centers Classic Golf tournament and Splatters: Another Fine Mess visit www.youthandfamilies.org or contact Tiffany Warriner (The Centers Foundation) by calling 501.666.9436 or via email at twarriner@cfyf.org.