Past Activities GCR 25th Annul Gala: CELEBRATION A Memorable Event for All! The Woman's Athletic Club is a gracious, elegant structure and it is likely that Jane Austen herself would have felt at home sitting in the charming Drawing Room or sipping a cup of tea in the Library. Over 100 members and guests certainly enjoyed the ambiance as they heard our three excellent speakers and then enjoyed a musical interlude with their luncheon. The day also included an opportunity to view the Region's quilt, which will also be on display this October at the AGM, and Duwanna Wall's Letter from Chicago archival exhibit, Marsha Huff's toast to Miss Austen (published on page 4), readings of two Austen letters to Cassandra by Margo Goia and William Phillips, and concluded with a raffle of several Austen-related books and videos. Winners of the raffle were Luduina Barbantini, Claire Pearson, Sue Landoff, Leonard Cecala, Beth Havlat, Margaret Ann Doody, Jane Davis, Elizabeth Lenckos, Barbara Peterson, and Victoria Jones. Jeff Without Slides In his many past presentations to our group, Jeffrey Nigro, Director of Education for the Art Institute of Chicago, has used his very high quality and specially researched slides. This time around he could not find suitable sources to illustrate his lecture, “A Taste for Finery & Parade: Regency Celebrations,” a feat he, as an art historian, likened to “working without a net.” But, as it turned out, Jeff's word pictures were as vivid as the best possible illustrations— the visiting czar with oversized epaulets made especially to emphasize his grand physique; the Prince Regent's elegant, very long dinner table at Carlton House, with a stream with mossy banks, plantings, and fish running down its center—the fish expiring during the multi-day event and their tiny corpses floating to the top; the 28-foot velvet and ermine train on the Prince's coronation robe—are all long lasting images. |