Taste For A Cure A Delicious Success!

By Paula Garvey

We had a fantastic night and raised over $120,000 for the Cystic fibrosis foundation. The night would not have been possible if it was not for the generosity of many, many people!

Firstly the committee who have been working so hard since last April to ensure the event was perfect, details like the type of plate we use to huge undertakings like the PowerPoint presentation featuring every person and business who contributed in any way.

The food this year was second to none, some of the restaurants and businesses, like Fredericks Pastries. The Peddlers Daughter, Piccola Italia and A & E Coffee Roastery have been participating since the first year!

Here are the restaurants and businesses who joined us this year: A&E Custom Coffee Roastery, Buckley’s Great Steaks, 36 deLux, Firefly American Bistro & Bar, Frederick’s Pastries, Great New Hampshire Restaurants, Great State Beverage, Jameson Irish Whiskey, Kerry Gold Cheese, Labelle Winery, Manchester Country Club, Orchard Street Chop Shop, The Peddler’s Daughter, Piccola Italia Ristorante, the Puritan Back Room, Purple Wine Company, The Quill, Rustic Leaf Bistro, and Zorvino Vineyards

Tickets were sold out a few days before the event and included a sampling of all food, wine and beer so all the guests had an array of culinary delights to choose from!

The event’s honorary chairperson, WZID 95.7’s Mike Morin, was emcee for the evening, Mike is more than an emcee, he has become a personal friend of Rosie’s and is so invested in helping to find a cure for her – he donated  a delivery of his hand baked breads and cookies as an auction item!

Our many generous sponsors came to the event and also donating to the cause. The Presenting Sponsor for the event is Surveillance Specialties (SURV). Other sponsors include RiverStone Resources, Pegasystems, U.S. Trust, Tyco Security, Quirk Auto Dealership, Hampshire Fire Protection, and Dovetail Dental Associates. Amherst Garden Center donated the floral arrangements for the event and also an auction item.

We were entertained by the BYPC Jazz combo and DJ, Mr. Porter Dodge. Volunteers from Souhegan High School, including Rosie’s sister Ella and her friends and volunteers from Kohl’s ensured the everything went smoothly that night! Bedford Photographer Debbie Ellis did a fantastic job taking photos throughout the evening.  

Many local businesses donated wonderful auction items for our silent auction – we had over 120 items, ranging from weekends away to autographed sports memorabilia and Bruins playoff tickets!! This year we also had 3 live auction items, that was such fun – a Trip to the beautiful Cayman Islands, a trip to Ireland and artwork by Rosie of her thumbprint, filled with words about what Cf means to her.

A very special thanks to Jennifer and Bob Grunbeck and the Grunbeck Family foundation for their outstanding generosity, they are wonderful friends who make this event possible.

Also a huge thank-you to the staff of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation , in particular Jenna O’Brien who worked tirelessly for this event. Rosie’s younger sister Zoë sold hand-made jewelry at the event to help raise money to find a cure for her sister!

And lastly most importantly, thank-you to our guests who bought tickets, purchased auction items and contributed to Bid For a cure, we are forever grateful for your support - we are now a step closer to finding a cure for Rosie and everyone else who has to deal with Cystic fibrosis every day.