Local volunteer Tom Row to be honored at ADFAC Bow Tie Award Event on Saturday

 

ADFAC’s Bill Wilcox Bow Tie Award Event will be held Saturday, November 11, and it will honor local volunteer Tom Row.

The Bow Tie Award Event is from 5-10 p.m. Saturday at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge. Row is the fifth winner of the Bill Wilcox Bow Tie Award.

Also Saturday, ADFAC will posthumously honor Kathy Stimpson, whose committed efforts to help those less fortunate led to the inspiration and establishment of ADFAC in the mid 1980s, a press release said.

The Bow Tie Award Event is designed to honor a local volunteer and serve as a signature fundraising event for ADFAC and the Bow Tie Endowment Fund, which was established to ensure the short and long-term sustainability of ADFAC. Previous Bow Tie Award winners include Ray Smith (2013), Tim Myrick (2014), Cande Seay (2015), and Bear Stephenson (2016).

Local favorite Elaine Graham will serve as the “Conductor” of the event and will be joined by other friends and family to honor Row at many “Train Stops” throughout the evening, the press release said.

The evening promises to include a delicious buffet dinner with a variety of sweet and savory dishes and cake to celebrate ADFAC’s 30th birthday, the press release said. The event will also include a cash bar, hundreds of amazing items available for live and silent auction, a State of Tennessee Approved 50/50 Raffle, and multiple special guests to make the evening fun and memorable, the press release said.

The auction will also include limited edition, handmade, themed bow ties which will each be auctioned throughout the evening by Graham, as special tokens commemorating this year’s event. Special thanks to Teri Gergen and the Occupational Therapy Assistant Class of 2019 at Roane State Community College, the press release said.

“They donated countless hours to hand sew these truly unique and special bow ties,” the release said.

Auction co-chairs Carol Smallridge and Kathie Shearer both shared their excitement with this year’s auction items.

“This is one of the most amazing auction line ups I’ve ever seen!” Smallridge said.

“There are unique gift ideas, multiple gift cards for wonderful restaurants, fun experiences, and so many more exciting items,” Shearer said. “This is going to be so much fun!”

Other exciting auction items to be auctioned during the live auction conducted by William “Bear” Stephenson include a very fun Mystery Dinner for 15 people hosted by ADFAC Bow Tie Committee and ADFAC Board members, a stunning pendant necklace donated by Karen’s Jewelers, a plane ride with Oak Ridge’s own pilot Charlie Hensley, a beautiful piece of pottery donated by Bill Capshaw, a true collectors fairy garden from Willow Ridge, and more than 30 additional silent and live auction baskets, the press release said.

Additional sponsors of this year’s event include CNS, UT Battelle-ORNL, Centrus, ORUD, DoubleTree Hotel, Leidos, Habitat for Humanity, First Christian Church, The Wilcox Family, Ray and Fanny Smith, and Cande and David Seay. A limited number of table sponsorships are still available. Please contact Annie Cacheiro for more information at [email protected] or (865) 425-0256, extension 114.

Individual tickets are available online at ADFAC BOW TIE EVENT 2017 or by calling (865) 425-0256, extension 107.

Here are comments from Bow Tie Award winners:

“I was surprised and humbled to be given an award by ADFAC in memory of Bill Wilcox, who was a dear friend. Giving back to the community was part of what made Bill a special man. I felt truly blessed to be the first recipient in 2013. I miss my friend Bill, but this award lives on his name and spirit which is simply wonderful.” – Ray Smith, Bow Tie Award Recipient 2013

“Such an honor to be the center of attention and help raise funds for such a great cause as ADFAC, which is so near and dear to my heart. It’s going to be a wonderful night celebrating both Tom Row and Kathy Stimpson.” – Cande Seay, Bow Tie Award Recipient 2015

“I’ve had so much attention already I can’t even imagine what it will feel like at the actual event. It is going to be so much fun, and I’m really looking forward to it. All Aboard The Garden Train—I just love the theme!” – Tom Row, Bow Tie Award Recipient 2017

ADFAC, an independent nonprofit agency established in 1987, exists to serve the basic needs of primarily low-income residents in Anderson and surrounding Appalachian counties. ADFAC’s goal is to help families become stable and self-sufficient through a variety of direct assistance services provided by its Social Services, Affordable Housing, and School Supply programs. ADFAC answers more than 6,000 requests for assistance each year. You can learn more at www.adfac.org.

This press release and photo were submitted by Annie Cacheiro.

More information will be added as it becomes available.

---

Do you appreciate this story or our work in general? If so, please consider a monthly subscription to Oak Ridge Today. See our Subscribe page here. Thank you for reading Oak Ridge Today.

Copyright 2017 Oak Ridge Today. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.