BRATTLEBORO — Standing in front of a sea of tables set with pale blue tablecloths and baskets of donated flowers, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Vermont event coordinator Barbara Harris is attempting to give direction to her waitstaff.
“Each table has a number and the diner's dinner choice will be written on a name card they place on your table,” shouts Harris, to the jolly crew assembled before her at the Brattleboro Eagles hall on a recent Saturday evening.
It is proving to be a near-impossible task for Harris. These are no ordinary waiters. They are “celebrity waiters,” locally known folks from the Brattleboro area who have volunteered their time to lend a hand at this dinner dance.
“We have three goals this evening,” she says loudly. “We want to raise awareness of Make-A-Wish in southern Vermont, we want to raise money for the organization, your tips tonight will also go toward this goal, and we want to have fun,” she says, as she is drowned out by the applause of her exuberant team.
Besides the fact that they are known and gregarious to a loud degree (as Harris is now discovering), this band of merry men and women are also attempting to outdo each other's outfits.
While you would know their voices in an instant, their bodies are another matter.
Tim Johnson and Ian Kelly, the morning team on WTSA, are each wearing long green hula skirts and loud Hawaiian shirts.
Karen Henry and Gina Pattison are paired as diner waitresses from the 1950's, complete with matching satin shirts, cigarette caps and roller-skates.
Town Manager Barbara Sondag is stunning in her flowing black skirt, white blouse and purple cummerbund.
Peter “Fish” Case of WKVT is hassling Sondag about wearing a skirt.
And only in Brattleboro could one see a man in a full-dress tuxedo while also wearing blue and green water shoes on his less-than-formal feet, but that is how former Speaker of the House Stephan Morse is attired.
These 20 waiter “pairs” can barely resist the opportunities to tease one another. They continuously shout out good-hearted ribs as Harris perseveres in her instruction. Finally, she gives up.
“Okay,” she says, using her loudest possible indoor voice. “Let's go into the kitchen and hear what Tristan Toleno wants you to know.”
Thank goodness Barbara Harris is also a woman with a great sense of humor.
The gaggle of waiters meander into the kitchen, where Toleno, the chef, awaits them. The Riverview Café co-owner is a man with a plan. Whether this motley crew considers themselves professional waiters or not, Toleno has decided to treat them as such, and begins his instruction as to how his meal will be served. In 15 minutes, 100 diners who have paid $50 per ticket - their contribution to the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Vermont - will be arriving for cocktails and appetizers.
This will be a four-course meal, using as much locally grown food as possible, much of it donated for the event.
While Toleno is addressing the crowd in the kitchen, Jeff Carlton Newton, a food service consultant by day and the evening's official potato washer, works over in the corner.
Why is he here?
“I am Tristan Toleno's neighbor, and I'm in the food service business. It's the right thing to do. When Tristan asks me to help, I do what I can. It's a great cause,” he says.
As the guests arrive, they are obviously charmed by their waitstaff.
Least recognizable is retired Brattleboro Fire Chief David Emery of Vernon, dressed in brown Carhartt pants, red suspenders, a brunette wig, “Billy Bob” buck teeth and a lip ring.
Some of the guests struggle to figure out just who it is that is shaking their hand or offering them welcoming hugs until he speaks. Each diner reacts in peals of laughter at this former public servant, turned waiter for a good cause.
The waiters snap to attention and get to work with a few minor glitches. It can be challenging to serve appetizers to a crowd while wearing roller skates, or when your grass skirt keeps riding up your hip.
While charmed by the atmosphere, Jim Davis has a more serious mission.
“I drove down from our offices in Burlington to support the work of our local volunteers here,” said Davis, the president and CEO of this Vermont organization, a position he has held for nine months. “Our group was founded 21 years ago, but people in this part of the state may not have heard of us yet. I drove here to help our volunteers with that visibility.”
Davis says that since its inception, Make-A-Wish Vermont has granted more than 500 wishes to children in Vermont who have life-threatening medical conditions. The average cost of a single wish is around $12,000.
“It's not about death,” he says, “it's about life, and providing hope, strength and joy to families by granting a wish come true for a child with a life-threatening illness.”
Make-A-Wish Vermont raises funds through external events; evenings like this one where a group of local volunteers increases the organization's visibility by inviting families who have received wishes to speak about their experiences, to help raise the money that will fund another child's wish.
Make-A-Wish board member Mark Wallace of Dover is also in attendance.
“I've been a board member for over five years now, and a fundraiser for the organization for over 17 years. I have a great passion for this organization. Wish granting is kept low profile, because it's all about the kids. When we find a kid who needs us, we always find a way to raise the funds for their wish,” he says.
Recently, wishes have been granted in the local area for a 14-year-old girl wishing to visit the largest mall in America, and another girl who went to the Billboard Awards in Las Vegas.
Mothers Jane Baker and Sharon Gentry's son Sam was diagnosed with stage 3B Hodgkin's Lymphoma when he was 5 years old.
Now 10, and happily chasing his brother Max around the table, Sam is considered N.E.D. - to have “no evidence of disease.”
“Make-A-Wish people couldn't have been more wonderful,” says Baker. Sam was given lots of choices and when he decided on a cruise to the Bahamas, all four of us were able to go. They also planned a trip for us to SeaWorld while we were in Florida, which included a backstage tour of the penguin nursery,” remembers Baker. “We're very grateful.”
Nearby, volunteer Fran Swanson of Newfane is passing out table assignments to the incoming crowd.
“I've volunteered for Make-A-Wish for over 20 years, and I've helped grant 35 wishes,” she says.
Swanson, who works at Dummerston Elementary School, says she loves kids. “I'm also happy to help children who need referrals,” she says.
To protect the children's privacy, referrals can be accepted only from medical professionals, parents and from the children themselves. Swanson and others help direct potential wish recipients in the process.
As the evening progressed, the jovial atmosphere quieted as the crowd viewed a video about the Make-A-Wish Foundation and two families shared their stories. Later in the evening, waiters were challenged to sing karaoke by the guests seated at their tables - for a price, of course, at least by some accounts.
Barb Harris says the waiters had decided they were willing to do whatever was asked of them to raise money for the cause, but she wouldn't elaborate.
“What happens at the Eagles stays at the Eagles,” Harris says.
The volunteers' willingness to embarrass themselves for a good cause must have charmed their audience, as Harris reported that more than $5,000 was raised that evening.
“We were truly blown away by the enthusiasm of the waiters and the generosity shown by everyone,” Harris says. “We definitely raised awareness of Make-A-Wish in Windham County. This will be hard to beat at next year's event.”