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Evening of Enchantment to kick-off Beveridge Pavilion rebuilding project

Date: 8/9/2011

Aug. 10, 2011

By Debbie Gardner

Assistant Editor

WESTFIELD — The plans may not yet be set, but that isn’t stopping Chairman Darlene Klaubert from throwing a grand party to help fund the rebuilding of Stanley Park’s much-loved Beveridge Pavilion, which had to be torn down earlier this year because of extensive structural damage.

“It kind-of threw me a curve in the middle of planning,” Klaubert said, adding that initially she was orchestrating a gala to raise funds to repair the structure.

Instead, she said the money raised at Aug. 26th’s “Evening of Enchantment” will be used to kick-start a pavilion rebuilding fund.

The event, which will start with a champagne welcome at 6 p.m. and continue at 7 p.m. with dinner catered by Elegant Affairs, a five-item live and 70-item silent auction and dancing to the sounds of Brass Attack, will take place under a tent erected over the cement floor of the original pavilion. Among the live auction items are a walk-on role in an upcoming Westfield Woman’s Club Theater production, a balloon ride, a plane ride for two, including lunch, a basketball signed by members of the Boston Celtics basketball team and 10 anytime passes to Jiminy Peak mountain resort.

Tickets are $100 per person, and, because to space limitations created by the tent, must be ordered by Aug. 16. Individuals should call Pat Burden or Amy L’Esperance in the Park Development Office at 572-2900 to make a reservation.

“They have a committee put together to rebuild [the pavilion], but we haven’t heard anything from them yet,” Klaubert said. “They’ve asked for time to speak at the event, so we’re hoping to hear what direction they are going in.”

She added that the construction of the original Beveridge Pavilion, which used wood from Stanley Park for its support beams, inspired the title of this year’s fund-raiser, which was named after the park’s enchanted oak, one of founder Frank Stanley Beveridge’s favorite trees.

She said Beveridge noticed decay on his favorite tree in the 1940s, and consulted tree experts about its condition. He was told to cut it down, but refused to believe the tree was lost, choosing instead to have a specialist cut out the diseased parts and fill the gaps with cement. The tree, she said, continues to grow to this day and is immortalized in the door medallions of the park’s recently-restored Carillon Tower, which Klaubert said will be open that evening so event guests can view its magnificent stained glass windows.

This is the fourth gala Klaubert has organized to support the needs of Stanley Park, which she said is not owned by the city of Westfield, but was developed on land donated by Beveridge and Kathleen O’Brien. Most of the features of the park, she said, were developed through donations from individuals.

Klaubert has participated in fund-raising to erect a children’s playscape, write the script for, recruit volunteers and train them to provide historical tours of the park and refurbish the Carillon Tower.

Debbie Gardner can be reached by e-mail at debbieg@thereminder.com



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