Hoe Down!

This past weekend, Villa di Maria celebrated its 50th Anniversary on a beautiful evening with a hoe down! There was live music, line dancing, great food, drinks, and wonderful company. See a whole heap 'o photos below!Even the VdM Birthday cake got all gussied up! The decor for the evening was charming and fun, with hay bales, cowboy hats, lassos, boots, daisies, and even a few longhorns! The work put into the night by Maria, Samantha, and Michaela was certainly apparent. Jeremy and Chelsea also did a lot of work to pull together the big event.Jeremy Michelman (above left) and Dave Anderson (not pictured) got quite a band together and played an amazing set for the beginning half of the night.The auction and raffle raised a good amount of money with items like "An Afternoon with Mrs. Schwind" and "10 Haircuts from Cristina" and "A Carriage Ride with Mrs. McAuley & Mrs. Jente" among so many other wonderful experiential auction items. A+ for creativity (if we were giving out grades... which we aren't, because: Montessori)!

Such pretty details everywhere!

The event was catered by Sugarfire, with some wonderful St. Louis local BBQ. It was the perfect way to start the night!

The long auction table, with so many wonderful baskets!

And let us not forget the mechanical bull, attempted by many brave souls...Those who wore their finest hoe down attire really added character to the night.But perhaps the highlight of everyone's night? Mr. Leo (yes, that Mr. Leo) really stepped up (pun intended) to teach those willing to get their boots moving how to line dance! He and his wife Casey really brought the moves!There was also quite a crowd gathered around the line dancers, clapping and whistling. Really, it was so much fun to watch everyone let loose and laugh and dance. The music was wonderful - from the first band with Jeremy Michelman and Dave Anderson and their friends, to the second set which included three musicians (fellow VdM parent Samantha Oberkfell Mueller - mom of Jackson in P1 - who played the fiddle and the hammered dulcimer; Steve Craig, who played banjo and hammered dulcimer; and Carole Bryan, who also played hammered dulcimer). Steve, Carol, and Samantha have been playing "old time" music together since Samantha was ten years old! The music portion of the evening was very special, and the whole evening was  a blast!

Don't these wonderful faces say everything?!

Special thanks are in order to Maria Burr, Samantha Clarke, and parent volunteer Michaela Herbst, who worked so very hard to make this event the success that it was. This one will be hard to top!