Embers Restaurant
June 24, 2011

Chip Klosterman and Macy Kirkland

Last Thursday iSPYCINCY teamed up with Embers Restaurant to host: “Operation Raise the Roof,” a fundraiser that benefitted Habitat for Humanity.

We first became connected to Habitat thanks to Macy Kirkland, who has been a great friend to both iSPYCINCY and Embers. Kirkland recently published a book titled “Let’s Go Home,” where all the proceeds go to benefit HFH in her hometown of Union City, TN. Along the timeline of Kirkland’s book hitting the shelves, iSPYCINCY, as a unique online magazine, was also coming to fruition. So we thought… what better way to promote both organizations than in a joint bash at Embers? And alas, after months of talks, the party of the spring finally came together — it was one for the ages.

Stacy and David Roth                                                      Rick Pawlak and Steve Thomas

Held in the Embers’ private dining room and the bar, 100 people packed in for a night that included… a wine tasting, light appetizers, a silent auction, raffle tickets, and Framester.

Mark Knue enjoying bidding on Reds tickets

The top auction prizes: Red Les Paul Guitar valued at $3,300, Diamonds seats for the Yankees/Reds game, and $500 gift card to Sia Spa, among others. The raffle of the night: two Ultimate Air Shuttle tickets to New York City. The man who won, Brian Wright, did so by virtue of being at the right place at the right time. Like most happening peeps he was at Embers for a business meeting. When Wright saw the party going on, he decided to contribute to the cause by buying raffle tickets, and low and behold, he won. The victorious smile of elation that followed suit was priceless.

Rose Harris, Sandy Leary, Vicki Sena,                         Rick and Julie Kantor
and Macy Kirkland

In between gratuitous sips of wine and tasty bites of sliders, chicken skewers, and sushi, those in attendance hopped in front of the bright lights known as Framester, the new rage in event photography. Per the event title (Operation Raise the Roof), the Framester backdrop was designed to look like a construction site with all sorts of gimmicks and props (hammer, saw, hard hats, gloves, etc.) to truly engage with the theme. It worked, and brilliantly I might add.

Framester photo shoot in action

At the end of the day, with the tally totaled, we raised $12,070 for Habitat. Stealing a beat from the infamous Charlie Sheen I’d say that’s called WINNING!

Rich and Jill Cross                                        Leah (iSPYCINCY) & Jon Zipperstein (Embers)

Marissa Woodly and Ed Lee of CHFH           Brian Burke, Toria Aronoff, and Adam Kleshinski

Operation Raise the Roof — mission complete. For a complete view on the night visit the iSPYCINCY/Framester facebook photo album. Click HERE.

*PHOTO CREDITS: Framester and Steve Thomas of Photographic Memories, LLC

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