This column will run frequently each week, highlighting shorter announcements or updates, and help you get a quick start to the Wilton news of the day. Have a news tip, item or something you know people are chattering about? Email us at editor@goodmorningwilton.com.
Wilton Lax Hosts Kick-Off Fundraiser
The Wilton Lacrosse Association (WLA) will host its annual Kick-off Cocktail Party & Fundraiser Auction on Friday Mar. 8, at Silver Spring Country Club.
Tickets are $125 per person and can be purchased online. All proceeds from the event support the Wilton Lacrosse Association’s community-based programming, including investments in off-season skill development initiatives, coaching, as well as capital improvement and infrastructure investments that benefit all those involved in the town’s lacrosse program.
Fundraising also helps offset high school programming costs, as much as possible, which helps keep Wilton High School Lacrosse competitive.
“We rely heavily on – and are grateful for – the ongoing support and generosity of the Wilton community,” said Kevin Wall, VP High School Girls. “Our kick-off cocktail party and auction is our primary fundraising activity, which enables us to host free skill development clinics for all youth and high school athletes and free special guest clinics led by prominent college athletes and coaches. Last year, thanks to funds raised, we were able to build and install permanent lacrosse rebound walls at the Kristine Lilly Field complex, which have been enjoyed by Wilton lacrosse players of all ages.”
This Friday, party guests will enjoy a lively evening with Wall serving as auctioneer, as well as hors D’oeuvres, dinner, and open bar. They will also have an opportunity to bid on a wide variety of silent and live auction items, which include different get-away packages to Destin, FL, Nantucket, Hilton Head, and Killington; tickets to Hamilton; charter fishing with Pelagic Beast, and much more. A preview of auction items is available online; silent auction bidding opens March 8.
Event sponsors this year include: Bear Paw Builders, Inc., Honda of Danbury, Lax.com, McMahon Ford, Outdoor Sports Center, Ring’s End, The Pizza Truck, Wells Fargo, and the Art Wall Scholarship Fund.
The WLA is a non-profit organization run by volunteers who seek to support the advancement of the sport of lacrosse for boys and girls of all ages. Their primary function is to provide an organized outlet for boys and girls of pre-high school age to learn the fundamentals of the sport and play in a town house league and/or travel team commensurate with their skill level and interest in the sport. The WLA seeks to bestow upon the youth of Wilton the fundamentals they require to be successful as they transition to the high school level as well as the values of sportsmanship and team.
For event updates follow the WLA on Facebook. Be sure to purchase tickets early, as attendance is limited and this event has sold out in previous years. Unable to attend, but interested in supporting the WLA? Donations can be made online.
Breaketh a Leg
Although we’re not sure if that’s how William Shakespeare would have wished someone going onstage ‘good luck’ we thought it was the next best way to send off Wilton High School senior Julia Rothstein, who competes in the Connecticut State Finals for Poetry Out Loud this Saturday, March 9.
The event runs from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. at Middlesex Community College in Middletown. It is free to attend, and no ticket is necessary. The winner of the Connecticut State Finals will compete in the 2019 National Finals to take place April 30-May 1 in Washington, DC.
Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation contest created by the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation. Participating students memorize and recite poems while building public speaking skills, self-confidence, and knowledge about literary history and contemporary life.
Wilton Non-Profits Benefit from Giving Day
Fairfield County’s Giving Day 2019’s set records for the 415 area non-profits that participated, raising a total of $1,719,685 from 11,742 donors–a significant 17% increase from the prior Giving Day record. Family, friends, neighbors, co-workers and businesses from Fairfield County and beyond rallied together to give where they live and work–among them Wilton residents which helped buoy several Wilton organizations.
The totals for each of the participating Wilton groups were:
ABC A Better Chance $2,295
Ambler Farm $5,420
Animals in Distress $6,085
Fidelco Foundation $1,346
Mianus Chapter of Trout Unlimited $5,235
Music on the Hill $27,184
Riverbrook Regional YMCA $95
Trackside Teen Center $350
Visiting Nurse and Hospice $1,270
Wilton Education Foundation $200
Wilton Historical Society $445
Wilton Playshop $1,660
Wilton Singers $1,240
Wilton Volunteer Ambulance Corps $275
Wilton Youth Council $800
Woodcock Nature Center $2,110