Tea On The Porch 2015

On Saturday, I had the distinct pleasure of once again serving as a judge at the Senoia Area Historical Society's Tea On The Porch fundraiser. I attended the first event last year and had a wonderful time, and this year the organizers did another fabulous job of creating a beautiful afternoon of friends enjoying tea on the porch!

This porch, by the way, belongs to SAHS President Dub Pearman and wife Mary, whose beautiful historic home is a town treasure.

The tables were lavishly decorated with fresh flowers and teawares, and I so enjoyed seeing all these lovely things the Pearmans and the volunteers were willing to share at this event.

The teapot arrangements were especially beautiful this year, I thought!

This year's tea was held in honor of the late Mary A. Brown, an entrepreneur who opened the first bed and breakfast in Coweta County, the Culpepper House on Broad Street in Senoia. Mary was a dedicated member of the historical society and hosted its first tea at the Culpepper House. It was lovely to see several of her family members at this tea, as well as the current proprietor of the Culpepper House. The SAHS displayed this copy of a 1992 newspaper feature on Mary, which it turns out, I wrote back in my reporter days.

Here, my friend Nancy Roy, a tireless historical society volunteer, shares a little about Mary, and she brought along a prized Wedgwood cup and saucer she now owns which once belonged to Mary.

The other two judges for the hat contest this year were Corby Winters, at left, a life coach and inspirational speaker, and Angela White, at right, who serves as Zoning Administrator for the Coweta County Planning and Zoning Department. We had a great time! Angela is also in my Sunday School class at church, so I had to behave. A little. I am, by the way, wearing a vintage hat in this photo, but it sat on the back of my head and doesn't show from this angle. It's here, in case anyone wonders.

Now last year, I judged the contest along with two gentlemen, and though we quickly came to an agreement about who the winner would be, I knew it would be a different experience to judge a hat contest with two women. I was pleasantly surprised when all three of us immediately said our top choice for the hat contest overall winner was Judy Belisle, whose fabulous floral and feathered hat with its trailing tulle was such a southern classic. She won a wonderful gift basket as her prize!

We also agreed that Cheryl Bains, a return visitor who was last year's hat contest winner, deserved an Honorable Mention for her incredibly creative hat paying tribute to the Senoia Area Historical Society's headquarters house at 6 Couch St. in Senoia. Clever!

And tomorrow, I'll tell you about the delicious food they served, including an elegant culinary touch that I, for one, intend to copy!