Fabulous decorations and amazing food set the scene for the celebration held at the UCSF Mission Bay Conference Center.

The program began with praise and appreciation. Cynthia Marcucci did a fabulous job as Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening, always witty and gracious.

Although Mayor Gavin Newsom could not attend the event (needing to travel with regards to the exciting ruling that all Californians have the right to marry), he sent a member of his staff who commemorated the day as Dr. Adams’ Day.

Several board members and past board members created a special tribute to Al in the form of a play.

The celebration concluded with a fabulous cheer lead by Lick-Wilmerding’s very own Coach Eliot Smith. As always, it included a “hyphen.”

A couple of lucky attendees, the Fisher brothers, received the large stuffed tigers that helped to spice up the stage.

The evening will be remembered as one of fun and joy.

While meeting with Barbara from The Log Cabin and Delaney House, she shared that she was coordinating a fundraiser for the Holyoke Merry Go Round with a Kentucky Derby theme. We thought that sounded like great fun, in addition to being a good cause, so we jumped at the opportunity to document the Derby Dazzle.

They already had the horses so all that was needed were some fashionable ladies wearing fashionable hats, a couple of races, betting, and prizes. All of which were in abundance at the event. The hats were stunning- from homemade to couture and everywhere in between. I loved the thought that went into so many of the choices. With bright colors, feathers, horses, and horseshoes, creativity inspired these stunning headpieces.

Then there were the races. Carousel racing, if you haven’t seen it before, is quite an event. A bit like roulette, the carousel goes around and the person on the horse closest to the arrow wins.

This is me on the carousel, anything to get the shot, right?

Here’s one of my faves taken while my horse was going up and down. This carousel was fassssstttttt.

Of course, the Kentucky Derby itself is THE race. Several attendees bet on it and brought their own tickets. Others purchased raffle tickets and the winners of the raffle tickets received $5 bet tickets.

With all these races, a hat contest and an auction, there were lots of winners Saturday evening. A huge congrats to Big Brown and to all the Holyoke Merry Go Round champions.

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