Buzz over chairs proves Life Styles benefit has egs
Posted on Sunday, May 11, 2008
BENTONVILLE — The second annual A Chair Affair fundraiser for Fayetteville-based Life Styles Inc., proved the singular event will be a long-standing one. The one-night silent and live auction May 1 at the Peel Mansion Museum & Heritage Gardens featured more than 60 handmade or decorated chairs and brought in more than $ 26, 000. “We like to do things that bring something new to the community,” said Carol Hart, executive director and founder of the organization. Charlie Harwell’s Adirondack chair, painted by Hart and smartly titled Art Deck-O, fetched $ 2, 200 during the live auction, the highest bid of the night. It was bought by Hannah and Greg Lee of Fayetteville.
Randy Northam, co-owner of Eventures Party Rentals in Fayetteville, earned smiles and kudos for his decorative chair made from a dismantled disco ball and aptly titled Disco Fever. Fittingly, the winning bidders were the owners of Lighting Emporium, Glenda and Ron Milam, who paid $ 550 for it.
“It has a lot of energy, a lot of color... just a lot of bling in it,” Northam said.
The chairs were enhanced with elements including plush pillows and wrought iron. One was covered in papier mache, others were lightly painted. Titles ranged from the descriptive — Garden Chair, to the humorous — Don’t Sit on Me or Throne of Wisdom, Power, and Longevity — No Guarantees.
Most, such as Katherine Barnhart-Thrift’s In the Deep Woods, a Tree Springs Forth, were themed. Her chair was adorned with poplar branches from her backyard. Live moss covered the chair, and a Japanese maple sapling “springs forth” from the seat. Denise and Dr. Hershey Garner of Fayetteville bought it for $ 100.
Barnhart-Thrift manages plant records at the Botanical Garden of the Ozarks, and her daughter is a client of Life Styles.
“I can hardly wait to see what next year brings,” she said.
Guests dined on mini crab cakes, crab-stuffed mushrooms, pesto bruschetta and other hors d’oeuvres from Cafe Rue Orleans, and enjoyed popular standards played on classical guitar by Roberto Carlos Martinez.
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