Living United

Winery Tours or Golf at Keswick? You Choose.

There is something for everyone on One Fine Day for the United Way on July 23, 2012. For golfers, the United Way Golf Classic offers the opportunity to play on the private Keswick golf course amid specatular scenery. As an extra, fun twist on the usual tournament, craft beer tastings are offered at select holes on the course. The day starts with a box lunch and ends with a sumptious casual buffet dinner as only Keswick can offer. In addition, dinner guests can participate in a diverse raffle as well as a small live auction for unique opportunities and items.

Don't golf, and wish you had the opportunity to spend the day with friends or clients like the golfers do? An Afternoon in the Country was designed for you. Start the day with a box lunch and a talk by Dr. M. Mala Cunningham: "Be Good to Yourself through Mindfulness and Yoga".

Then board the bus for "One Vine Day" of tours and tastings at three local wineries: Jefferson, Trump and Blenheim. Savor the afternoon with friends while sampling wine and enjoying the breathtaking scenery. We will finish up at Blenheim, where you can play a round of croquet if you desire.

Upon your return, you can join our golfers for the special buffet, raffle and auction. One Fine Day for the United Way serves to support our United Way's priority areas of School Readiness, Self-Sufficiency and Community Health. Help your community while having a wonderful day.

The United Way Golf Classic:

• An afternoon of golf, including a box lunch, craft beer tastings, hole contests and a buffet dinner: $150 per golfer

An Afternoon in the Country. Choose all of some of these activities:

• "Be Good to Yourself" lunch:   $20
• "One Vine Day" winery tour:  $60
• Buffet Dinner at Keswick Hall: $65

Or all three events for $140.

CLICK HERE FOR A BROCHURE

And, of course, there are plenty of sponsorship opportunities available.

To register, please call Caroline Emerson at 434-972-1701 or [email protected].

 

 

 

Save the Date for "One Fine Day for the United Way"

Circle Monday, July 23rd on your calendar for an amazing day at Keswick Hall at Monticello.

For golfers, the United Way Golf Classic, which normally sells out, will be played on the club's Arnold Palmer designed course. Last year's beer tasting tents on the course were a big hit, and will be back again this year. The tournament includes a box lunch and delicious dinner on the patio.

Don't golf? We have you covered. "An Afternoon in the Country" offers a wine tasting tour of three wineries, a box lunch with a speaker, and the opportunity to join the golfers for dinner in the evening.

Both events benefit the United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area. We are invested in: School Readiness, Self-Sufficiency and Community Health. Spend "One Fine Day" with us and help us invest in our community.

More detailed information will be posted soon. If you can't wait and have questions, please contact Caroline Emerson at [email protected] or 434-972-1701. Sponsorship opportunities are also available.

The Simplest Gesture

As I sat in my office today, listening to Christmas music and trying to cross things off of my to-do list, I received such a lovely surprise from my mom. It was a reminder to me that even the simplest gestures can make a huge impact on the joy of another during the holiday season.

Back in July, we gave my mom’s preschool class all of the leftover picture frames from the One Fine Day for the United Way golf tournament and day at Keswick Hall. The frames were a generous donation from First Systems & Resources, a local, family-owned printing and promotional products business. After the event, we realized that we had ordered about twenty too many and since the frames were engraved with the date, we couldn’t save them for next year’s event.

After hearing me talk about saving paper towel rolls and egg cartons for my mom’s class, the staff here thought that her group may really enjoy these picture frames. So, that weekend, I dropped off two tote bags full of frames for the preschool class at A.G. Richardson Elementary in Culpeper, Virginia.

It was so long ago that our staff had nearly forgotten about the frames. We were all surprised when my mom’s email came this morning filled with pictures of the children in her class, proudly holding up their newly decorated picture frames.

These simple wooden rectangles that were once meant for the participants in our summer event have now been transformed into beautiful, thoughtful Christmas creations for these children to share with their families this year. The children she works with had a wonderful time sprinkling the frames with glitter, adorning them with stickers and personalizing them as a gift for their family.

All of this reminds me that what may seem like an item we would normally put in the trashcan or recycling bin could be transformed into a beautiful and meaningful piece of artwork.  I am so happy that each of these students had something to take home after school yesterday that they were proud of and excited about.

We can all make a difference. Not only during the holiday season, but all year. Whether you have an hour to spend with someone at a nursing home, five dollars to donate to a local charity or a bag of saved paper towel rolls for school craft projects, you can make a significant difference in the life of someone else.

A special thanks to Ms. Cain and Ms. Jarrell’s preschool class for sharing their artwork with us!

 

Wishing each of you a safe, peaceful and joyous holiday!

 

Posted by: Jessica Snyder, United Way Volunteer Center Director

It was One Fine Day

Monday may have been hot and humid, but the participants in One Fine Day for the United Way, a day at Keswick Hall, Club & Estate, had “a total blast” as one person posted on Twitter later. Silver sponsors StellarOne Bank and Volvo of Charlottesville helped make the day possible, and the stellar staff of Keswick and the United Way made sure things ran smoothly.

The day started with a live broadcast of WINA’s “Morning News with Rick & Jane” from the patio at Keswick Club. Later, Rick played golf in the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic, in which golfers were able to be refreshed by beer tastings at the four par 3 holes.

Jane enjoyed “An Afternoon at the Estate,” where participants enjoyed resort activities like croquet and archery, tours of the grounds, wine tasting and flower arranging. One person described it as “a mini vacation”. Next year, we will tweak the offerings to hopefully include a cooking class and kitchen garden tour. The wine tasting was a big hit, taking place in the Hall's new wine cellar, so we will be sure that again.

At the end of the day, everyone came together in the ballroom for a wonderful summer buffet sponsored by BB&T. Brad Ramsey, general manager of the Charlottesville Newsplex, held a lively mini auction and then drew the winning raffle tickets for an amazing assortment of goods and services. Many thanks to the United Way’s exceptional special projects volunteer Margo Szeliga for assembling our sponsors and soliciting donations for the raffle and auction.

Congratulations to the winning golf team of Tom Barnes, John Echols, Jud Foster and Kevin Leibl, who received the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic perpetual trophy.

It truly was One Fine Day!

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

 

Preparing for Two Fine Days!

We have been in full preparation mode this week getting ready for One Fine Day for the United Way on Monday, July 25 - a Day at Keswick Hall, Club and Estate. Golfers are looking forward to the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic, which includes specialty beer tasting at four of the holes this year, and non-golfers will be enjoying resort activities normally only available to guests of Keswick Hall or members of Keswick Club.

We have been creating signs for our holes sponsors and posters thanking our sponsors and raffle donors, doing last minute team registrations, and so on to make sure the days runs smoothly. We are relieved that the weather report for Monday does not include such oppressive heat as we have today.

In the meantime, our staff continues to help the people walking in the door or calling on the phone seeking help or referrals to local agencies. They will be glad when the boxes, posters, coolers and cases of water and soda are out of the way after the golf tournament.

We will have photographers roaming around on Monday, so we'll be posting photos to make you wish you were there - and to make plans to join us next year. Our friends and event sponsor at NewsRadio 1070 AM WINA, will be broadcasting live from the patios at Keswick Club on Monday morning, so tune in between 6 am to 10am and listen to Morning News with Rick & Jane.

But there is another day that we are preparing for - one that takes about nine months to organize - the United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring on September 21. Our Volunteer Center director, Jessica Snyder, disappears into her office each morning to field phone calls and emails from nonprofits and schools with questions about registering their projects, or from businesses wanting to register volunteer teams. We have a new and improved system for registrations this year, but like anything unfamiliar, some folks need some help with the process.

We are in the final push for project registration for nonprofits and school - every year they seem to wait until the last minute to register, causing Jessica to lose a lot of sleep wondering if there will be enough projects for the 2,500 expected volunteers. Last week, we recorded a PSA with our friend Joe Thomas, host of The Joe Thomas in the Morning show on WCHV, 1260 AM and 107.5 FM, where we have a weekly 8:30 Thursday morning guest spot.

 

United way doc psa

 There is still time to sign up for the United Way Day of Caring - just check the link in our sidebar.

 

Posted by Kim connolly

 

You Deserve to Have One Fine Day

We are so fortunate to have great relationships with all the media outlets in Charlottesville. Recently, our good friends at WINA, sponsors of our One Fine Day for the United Way, a Day at Keswick Hall, Club & Estate, recorded the following public service announcement for us.

 

United Way Golf Classic PSA

 

And, our friends at Charlottesville Newsplex and Comcast Spotlight collaborated to created this terrific television spot.

 

Plus, event sponsor The Daily Progress is running this ad on Sundays for us.

Hurry up and sign up for your spot on the golf course or a relaxing day at the estate. We have sold out the golf tournament the last couple of years. Call Caroline Emerson at 434-972-1701.

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

 

A quiet work week…or is it?

It seems that many folks have taken advantage of a Monday holiday to take this week off. Our phone is pretty quiet, and our staff has far less than the usual number of meetings scheduled.

 However…

 Our staff is simply digging in to prepare for:

• Our annual financial audit with the good folks at the Hantzmon Wiebel accounting firm
• One Fine Day for the United Way on July 25th
• The creation of our annual report, and
• The 20^th anniversary of United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring on September 21^st. Jessica Snyder’s phone is the busiest as she fields several phone inquiries a day from nonprofits wanting to register a Day of Caring project or businesses wanting to register a team.

 A summer slowdown? Only on the surface.

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

Good Times for a Good Cause

Last night we have the privilege and the pleasure of holding our kick-off registration party for “One Fine Day for the United Way” at Keswick Hall, Club and Estate. Once again, our good friends at NewsRadio 1070 WINA, one of the event sponsors, had a live broadcast of Jay James’ “Best Seat in the House” show, and once again, UVA baseball coach Brian O’Connor was the featured guest on the show.

We wish that he could have been in Omaha coaching in the championship of the College World Series instead of sitting on the (lovely!) patio at Keswick Hall, but it was not a bad way to spend the evening. This year, we were fortunate to have his assistant coaches, Karl Kuhn and Kevin McMullan, join Jay for the show, as well as pitcher Tyler Wilson. And, many of our friends joined us for refreshments on the patio as well.

 

You have the chance to partake in the gorgeous venue and outstanding hospitality of Keswick Hall, Club & Estate if you join us for either the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic or An Afternoon at the Estate on July 25. You won’t regret it!

 

Posted by Kim Connolly

Join us for Live Radio on the Patio at Keswick

As part of our promotion for One Fine Day for the United Way, a day at Keswick Hall, Club & Estate, our wonderful radio partner NewsRadio 1070 WINA will be broadcasting LIVE from the patio at Keswick Hall on Monday, June 27. Join us for a special broadcast of Jay James' "Best Seat in the House" with special guests UVA Head baseball coach Brian O'Connor, his assistant coaches, and pitcher Tyler Wilson.

The always accommodating staff at Keswick is offering $15 drink and appetizer specials for our friends joining us for this fun evening. Last year’s radio event was especially memorable because it was one of the evenings we had a severe weather microburst and the power went out at Keswick.  The party went on, and we ended up listening to an extended version of Coy Barefoot’s show as he fielded listeners’ phone calls reporting in damage around the area. Jay James was able to go on live later with an in-person interview with coach O’Connor. This year will be our third year of doing this special broadcast with Coach O'Connor.

Come by after work at 5:30, you are guaranteed to enjoy wonderful Keswick hospitality and some radio fun.

Everyone who registers at the party for either the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic or An Afternoon at the Estate is eligible for prizes.

Overall event sponsorships as well as hole sponsorships are available. The tournament fills up quickly, but now non-golfers can also enjoy An Afternoon at the Estate.

For more information or updates, call Caroline Emerson at 434-972-1701, follow us on Twitter as @UnitedWayTJA or “Like” us on Facebook as United Way TJA

Keswick-United Way Golf Classic

What fun we had during the Keswick-United Way Golf Classic on Monday! The teams were sold out, and we had many generous sponsors, including Keswick Hall, Club & Estate, NewsRadio 1070 WINA, and The Daily Progress. The entire event was presented by State Farm Insurance, and ably spearheaded by Tom Barnes of State Farm. BB&T sponsored the wonderful dinner, and once again Volvo of Charlottesville offered generous Hole in One contests at four different holes, with the grand prize being a new Volvo XC70. As the person who got to pick up the car from Volvo and drive it to Keswick for the day, I was impressed by the neat warning lights on the front door pillars that blink when a car is passing you on either side – no more blind spots! Of course, Volvo is known for its safety standards.

Every year we try to make the tournament a little more special, and this year, we were helped by First Systems and Resources, a family-owned print and promotions company here in Charlottesville. They provided us with very nice golf-themed picture frames, and our very able staff photographer, Leah Valentine Hill, took photos of each team at the 18th hole with beautiful Keswick Hall in the background. Each golfer received a framed photo of their foursome. (Staff and volunteers made that happen by printing and framing the photos on site all day long.).

Many thanks go to our Special Projects volunteer, Margo Szeliga, who put in several months of work in signing up sponsors and soliciting raffle prizes. Thanks as well go to volunteers Jim Kennan, board member, and Sean Connolly, who each put in their third year at the tournament.

The good folks at NewsRadio 1070 WINA once again out-did themselves in their support and promotion of the tournament – from PSAs to three live broadcasts from Keswick, they truly put all their resources into helping us make this tournament special. And this year we welcomed The Daily Progress as a tournament sponsor; they ran a month’s worth of ads with entry forms that  also helped raise awareness. Thank you, all.

And what more can we say about the wonderful people at Keswick – over and over we said to ourselves and others what a pleasure it was to work with them. They consistently make you feel like you are the most special person in the world.

We hope that the golf, spectacular scenery, great food and outstanding service from Keswick staff made all our golfers’ day fun.

We are already brainstorming on some new, clever twists for next year. Stay tuned.

Checkout our event album on Facebook.  And "Like" us while you're there!

Posted by Kim Connolly.

I'll Be Back!

Today is my last day at United Way…and it’s a very sad day. Working at United Way has been the most rewarding and the best learning experience I have had. I have traveled to over 20 countries in my life, but I learned more things at United Way in the past 8 months than I have ever learned elsewhere.

Since the first week of working here, I knew that this was going to be a special and the perfect experience for me. Who else will treat you to a 3-hour lunch at the Melting Pot for holiday staff lunch on their first week? Or teach you how to ride a Segway for the Dogwood Festival? Or spend a beautiful day out at Keswick riding in golf carts and eating succulent meals (thanks Keswick Hall!)? These are only a few of the wonderful things United Way has allowed me to experience during my short time here.

 

But, besides all the perks of working here, I have been truly inspired by the staff at United Way. They work extremely hard every day to make our community a better place. Not only do they work hard, but each and every one of them has such strong passion and commitment, that it is not simply a job for them. The staff at United Way-Thomas Jefferson Area is the perfect example of people who LIVE UNITED.

It has been a humbling experience and I hope that some day I will be as successful and charitable as the wonderful staff. Thank you for teaching me how to LIVE UNITED and I will be back in 3 years!

Reimi Okuyama has been our AmeriCorps volunteer since November, 2008, and is leaving now to attend law school in Florida. Her task was to coordinate the efforts of the Thomas Jefferson Area Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Coalition. Because of Reimi’s efforts, the Coalition increased the number of low and moderate income people receiving free tax preparation from 240 in 2008 to 807 in 2009! That resulted in more than $161,000 in savings of preparation fees, more than $603,000 in tax credits, and almost $1 million dollars in total refunds for community members. Now THAT is what it means to Live United!

One Enchanted Evening

We appreciate the irony that our mission is to serve community members with the greatest need, or at the greatest risk, yet Caroline Emerson and I spent several hours last evening in the world class, storybook environment of Keswick Hall helping to further that mission.

We are privileged to have Keswick host and sponsor our Keswick-United Way Golf Classic, which is on July 27 this year. Last night NewsRadio 1070 WINA, another tournament sponsor (along with State Farm Insurance) broadcast its signature sports show, “The Best Seat in the House” with our favorite sports host, Jay James, live from the terrace of  Fossett’s bar. We called it our tournament registration party.

You would think it could not get any better than sitting on the terrace overlooking the Arnold Palmer designed golf course and infinity pool on a beautiful summer evening, but it did. Jay’s special guest was University of Virginia head baseball coach Brian O’Connor, fresh from his team’s amazing journey to the College World Series.  He sets the example of class, sportsmanship, drive and determination for coaches at all levels of sports. I admit to asking him to sign a baseball for my family, as we have followed his teams for several years and stayed up way past our bedtimes several nights during their post season run.

Chef Craig Hartman also stopped by for an interview and brought with him some amazing crab cakes – Jay James certainly won’t forget this remote broadcast anytime soon! Coy Barefoot, host of “Charlottesville Right Now” is next in line for the royal treatment as he will also be broadcasting live from Keswick, probably on July 9. Then Rick Daniels and Jane Foy will get their chance the morning of the tournament.

We joke about what a tough job we have when we have the opportunity to “work” at Keswick, but we are serious about doing whatever we can to bring together the resources to bring about positive changes in people’s lives. The funds raised through this golf tournament will help children and families, individuals needing access to health care and prescriptions, those working toward self-sufficiency and many others in our community. Won’t you join us on July 27 at Keswick as a golfer and/or a Hole Sponsor?

Posted by Kim Connolly.

Glam Golf: Announcing the Second Annual Keswick-United Way Golf Classic

I am EXCITED. The second annual Keswick-United Way Golf Classic, presented by State Farm, will be on July 27, 2009 at the absolutely gorgeous Keswick Hall, Club & Estate. After meeting yesterday with our partners, I can promise that it’s going to be a fantastic event. I know you hear that about every event, but trust me…

Our United Way planning team met yesterday at Keswick with our Golf Classic partners from State Farm, Keswick Hall, and WINA. The Keswick folks are always tremendously gracious, providing amazing hospitality in a breathtaking setting. It is becoming increasing difficult for me to attend meetings anywhere else: I am spoiled. But, I LIKE it.

Rick Daniels and Amy Lambert from WINA are a blast to work with. They have great ideas and enthusiasm, and WINA is a perfect partner for this tournament. Listen for upcoming live broadcasts from Keswick, coming soon (we’ll blog/Tweet/etc. the dates and times). We’ll be talking about registration, sponsorship opportunities, the stunning golf course, and the wonderful dinner that Keswick will whip up for our hungry golfers. Come by Keswick during the broadcasts to register for the tournament, and you just might get a little something special! Stay tuned…

Tom Barnes from State Farm Insurance founded this tournament last year and it raised nearly $10,000 for the United Way- Thomas Jefferson Area. This year, with Tom’s continued guidance, we’ll do even better. State Farm is always there for the United Way.

So, have you got the tournament on your calendar yet? Well, get on it! For more information click here.

Last year's State Farm team:

 

 

Posted by Caroline Emerson.