by Robin Cohen
With the memorable theme of “Hats Off to DAADS,” the Deco Society hosted its Annual Membership Dinner on Tuesday, November 3, 1998 at the Fox & Hounds in Bloomfield Hills.
The Fox & Hounds proved to be a very fitting location for our group, where recent renovations to its banquet facilities converted an ordinary room to a 1930s restaurant with an Art Deco theme. We all felt right at home.
The event’s theme created a virtual vintage fashion show with all of the evening’s guests arriving in their favorite vintage chapeau with matching outfit; and in our surroundings, we really felt transported back in time. The table decorations were fabulous, each centerpiece a different mannequin head decked out in a great hat.
An exciting display of silent auction items kept our attention during the cocktail hour, while a beautiful array of vintage hats from the private collection of Lucy Ortiz was informally modeled for us by Leslie Craigie and Caroline Ashleigh. DAADS’ own Web Master, Jeff Chappell, had his computer set up to display the DAADS’ web site and was on hand to acquaint us with the site and answer any questions.
After a delicious dinner, we were on to the Annual Business Meeting. The adoption of a new set of bylaws was unanimously approved. Annual reports were given by our Treasurer, Frank Edwards, and Membership Chair, Carl Cohen. The 1999 Board of Directors were introduced and installed. The newly established Board of Trustees, made up of past Board members who will act in an advisory capacity to the Board, were also introduced and installed. At that time, each of these members received a “Certificate of Appreciation” in recognition of their past contributions to DAADS. For a complete list of the 1999 Board of Directors and Board of Trustees, please see the inside front cover of this issue.
Before the evening’s end, a contest was held and prizes were awarded for “Most Outrageous Hat” to Ron Leinweber in a sultan’s turban; and for “Most Deco Hat” to Caroline Ashleigh and “Most Creative Hat” to Emily Ewing, both looking lovely in complete vintage attire.
Afterward everyone was slow to leave. We all had such a great time, we wanted to stay “back in the ’30s” a little longer.
Many thanks go to Susann Spilkin, the evening’s Event Coordinator, and to the others who gave both their time and talents to make the event possible: Jeff Chappell, Carl Cohen, Elayne Gross, Bob and Kathie King, Janine Menlove, Lucy Ortiz and Ann Williams.