Boys & Girls Clubs of Sarasota County serves grand slammin' event
The 2018 Tennis Ball: A Grand Slam Event was hosted April 12 at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens
By
Kayleigh Omang
| 5:04 p.m. April 12, 2018
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The Boys & Girls Club of Sarasota County hosted a smashing night of celebration on April 12 at Marie Selby Botanical Gardens.
The 2018 Tennis Ball: A Grand Slam Event is a kick-off to the Joey Gratton Tennis Championship, which will be hosted at the Longboat Key Club in September.Â
To celebrate tennis, the dishes for the night were catered to the four tennis opens, the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Guests were served multiple Australian hors d'oeuvres during cocktail hour with their drinks, followed by a French-inspired salad. The dinner was a US dish, roasted chicken with garlic mashed potatoes, corn and asparagus. The affair was topped off with a British dessert, chocolate tuile cup with strawberries and whipped cream.
The Tennis Ball brought big name athletes to the event, such as Wimbeldon match Kathy Rosenberg, Australian Open winner Petr Korda, six-time allstar baseball player Bobby Bonilla and Dallas Cowboys center Dustin Keith.
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Co-Chairwomen Christina Bonilla and Barb Lancer
Co-Chairwomen Christina Bonilla and Barb Lancer
Robyn and CEO and President Bill Sadlo
Blake, Priscilla and Brock Gratton
Tennis Ball necklaces were available for purchase as a raffle for a eight Carat diamond tennis bracelet.
Tennis balls were placed in the orchid pots.
Orchids with tennis balls centered each table.
Paul Varner and Amanda Sequira
Sports-themed items were available in the silent auction, such as this baseball signed by Masahiro Tanaka.
A football signed by John Elway was a silent auction item.
A table lined with live auction items, such as Orioles tickets, excursions and two tickets to the MLB World Series.
A student quartet from Pine View School played music during cocktail hour.
Sandra and Steve Carter
Ashley Rosenberg, Ryan Thompson and Kathy Rosenberg
Rosemary McGovern and Reeny Kaney
Alisa Pettingell with Ryan and Sepi Ackerman
Kelli and Mack Dancer
Victor Baut and Shawn Doolittle
Patti Lee Curtis, Co-Chairwoman Barb Lancer and Wayne Curtis
Connie and Dan McClure
Guests were able to purchase a tennis necklace raffle at $100 each.
Kara and Scott Schuhriemen
Rob and Michelle McGrath
A French-inspired salad was the first course.
Jessica Russo and Steve Kepecz
George Posey, Lee Wetherington and Jeffrey Roberti
Kelli Eggen and Steve Cavanaugh
Appetizers from Australia were served during cocktail hour.
Kerry and Sean Hegarty
Amy Kleppinger, David Berger and Eric and Julie Davidson
Todd and Elena Reuter with Linda and David Thompson
Kathy Rosenberg, Co-Chairwoman Barb Lancer and Petr Korda
The Gratton's host the Joey Gratton Tennis Championship each year in memory of their husband and father, Joey Gratton.
Ray Collins and Erin Hurter
Debra Croce, Kimberley Pelyk, Sandra Rios, Jeff Mayers and John and Beth Woods
Co-Chairwomen Christina Bonilla and Barb Lancer thank everyone for coming.
