The Ridgefield Library is finalizing plans for a virtual, Roaring 20s-themed Great Expectations Gala on Saturday, May 22. “With its elegant meal, exciting program and our distinguished honorees, Eileen and Jay Walker, this truly will be a roaring evening,” said Laureen Bubniak, director of development at the Library. “We are so pleased to present the Walkers with the 7th annual Hope H. Swenson Visionary Award for their work and philanthropy benefiting Ridgefield and the larger national and global communities.”
The gala includes a take-home, Sarah Bouissou-catered three-course dinner, as well as a selection of wine provided by Ancona’s. The 6:30 pre-party will feature Roaring 20s music by the Ridgefield High School Jazz Trio. Ticketholders will be provided an email address for submitting selfies of themselves dressed in Roaring 20s outfits during the week leading up to the gala until 5:30 p.m. on May 22. Those selfies will then become part of the pre-party entertainment. (For costume assistance, the Library will present virtual classes ahead of the event for creating Roaring 20s headpieces for ticketholders.)
Highlights of the program, which gets under way at 7, include tributes to the Walkers, a Roaring 20s selection from the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra (RSO), and a live paddle raise. The high point will be an exclusive tour, led by Jay Walker, of the Walker Library of the History of Human Imagination. This extraordinary private library houses 20,000 volumes and hundreds of museum-level books, manuscripts, maps and artifacts, and features floating platforms, multiple stairways and a glass bridge. The virtual tour will be available only during the gala program.
Tickets are $175 and, with no dinner included, $125. For additional information and for tickets, contact Ms. Bubniak at LMBubniak@RidgefieldLibrary.org by May10.
Caption: Jay and Eileen Walker