The party was just one of the many fundraising efforts for the East Side Recreation Field playground. After more than 25 years of fun for countless Saratoga children, including Caroline Street students, the equipment located on land owned by the school district is outdated and must be replaced.
Event chairs Heather Fresh and Bernadette Sprinkle welcomed almost 200 guests to the Party for the Playground. Among them were PTSO Co-Presidents Mesha Brewer and Kirsten Ott, and Principal Dan O’Rourke. Garland Nelson and members of Soul Session set the perfect tune for Mazzone Hospitality’s playful food and drinks, while Caroline Street dad Jeff Caron captured the young at heart in his Saratoga Photobooth.
Fresh helped fellow school mom Jill Warmbier coordinate silent and live auctions featuring New York Yankees tickets, a ‘Designer for a Day’ package with Jen Jen from Miss Scarlet’s, a tequila tasting at Mexican Connection, a five-course wine-pairing dinner at Javier’s new Latin restaurant, Embrace the Race swag, a picnic table adorned with the handprints of Caroline Street first-graders and a ‘Hattie’s Backyard Throwdown’ donated by school parents Beth and Jasper Alexander. Over $12,000 was bid between both auctions, with more than $20,000 raised at the end of the night.
“What I most enjoyed most was seeing so many parents, grandparents, families and friends there,” said Sprinkle. “Some whose children don’t even attend Caroline Street Elementary—it is a community playground and the community definitely showed up. Their support was overwhelming.”
Caroline Street Elementary School’s PTSO will continue to host mini events as they begin applying for special grants this summer. For more information, or to assist the playground project, please visit www.carolinestreetplayground.com.
