FAMOUS LADIES’ TEA
Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County’s sixth annual benefit scheduled for Sunday
TROY, N.Y. » The Famous Ladies’ Tea, a unique annual fundraiser for the Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County, will take place Sunday.
The sixth annual benefit is scheduled to take place from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, located at 235 Hoosick St. in Troy.
The event, held each year during Women’s History Month, offers attendees a chance to get up close and personal with famous ladies from the past.
This year, local actresses will portray Marie Curie, Ruth Desmond, Nellie Bly, Alice Hamilton, Sybil Ludington, Kate Field, and the biblical Martha.
Theafternoon will include a luncheon with presentations from all seven famous women including an interactive question and answer session, as well as a silent auction offering items from area retailers, artisans, restaurants and service providers.
Now in its sixth year, this popular gathering is meant to promote women, history and literacy in the community, explained Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County executive director Judith Smith.
Smith called the event an opportunity to learn about women, to celebrate women, celebrate history and celebrate literacy work.
“It just seems like it’s a good, fun social activity,” she said.
The 2018 Famous Ladies lineup is impressive, Smith said, mentioning the large range in time periods.
“It’s an interesting group of women,” she noted
All of the actresses are also volunteers with the Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County.
Reaching far back into women’s history, Marie Heller of Mel-
rose will represent Biblical figure Martha on Sunday.
“Her life kind of speaks to me,” Heller said on why she chose to portray Martha, known for her steadfast faith.
This will be Heller’s fifth year participating as an actress in the Famous Ladies’ Tea. Last year she played Miriam, another woman from the Bible.
“For me, personally, I enjoy helping people to learn a little bit about what the scriptures say,” Heller said. “There’s some really good lessons in the Bible, some good teaching.”
Another experienced actress, Stephanie Weiss of Averill Park, will pose as the lesser- known Ruth Desmond at Sunday’s event. Desmond, who lived from 1906 to 1988 in Virginia, was a pioneering consumer advocate who changed the face of food regulation.
Through this endeavor, she became known as the “Peanut Butter Grandma,” but also took action for tighter regulations of products including hot dogs, cranberries baby food and toothpaste. Weiss was inspired to take on this role after hearing about Desmond on a radio show.
She said she especially admired Desmond’s willingness to take on big corporations.
A fourth- time Famous Lady, Weiss likes doing some volunteer work that helps the Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County along with researching her characters and learning about them.
“Every time I play one of these characters, I learn things,” Weiss said, adding she enjoys hearing her costars stories too. “It can be quite educational.”
Each year around 100 event- goers, including many returning guests, come to the Famous Ladies’ Tea for a unique experience.
“It’s a fun event and it’s something that brings together people from different generations,” Heller said
All proceeds from this event will benefit Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County, which depends on income from special events to support free programs and services for adults and children in greater Rensselaer County.
The Famous Ladies’ Tea helps further the organization’s mission of teaching people to read, write and speak English, empowering students to be advocates for themselves and educating the larger community about literacy issues.
“The money that we raise enables us to provide services to the adults and children that we serve,” Smith said.
Tickets, $ 45 each or $ 315 for a reserved table of eight, can be purchased in advance by calling ( 518) 2444650 or by sending a check to Literacy Volunteers of Rensselaer County, 65 First St. Troy N. Y. 12180.