“A beautiful night, an amazing evening, a worthy cause, an outstanding event!”
These are the words Sisters on a Journey guests are using to describe Savannah’s Sisters on Journey Dinner on February 8th. Over 500 guests gathered at the restored historic Kehoe Ironworks building at The Trustees’ Garden venue in downtown Savannah. As guests walked through the doors, they posed for photos taken by South Magazine. Upon entry to the main event space, guests were overwhelmed by the lovely, original table themes and décor. The hostesses decorated tables with everything from traditional dinner décor to themed tables in honor or memory of a patient such as the sailboat tables in honor of Malone, a 16-year-old leukemia patient who loves sailing. There were just fun themes that lent themselves to easily dressing up as a group. Some original group themes this year were a karate kid themed table, “Kick Childhood Cancer”, a Beetles Yellow Submarine Table, “All Together for a CURE” complete with Beetles shaped cookies and record album dinner chargers, a Succulent filled table containing signs with phrases like “Childhood Cancer is a real prick”, and a Frida Kahlo inspired table created by Tequilla’s Town Restaurant with a sign that read, “Let’s TeqKILLa Cancer.” Every single table was unique and beautiful.
Guests enjoyed cocktails and perusing silent auction items on the patio while listening to music provided by local band, Tell Scarlet. A delicious dinner was provided by Silk Road Catering. After dinner, emcee Andrew Davis drew door prizes, allowed patients to share why CURE is important, and introduced keynote speaker, Kristine Bothwell. Kristine shared the story of her daughter Ella’s cancer journey. Kristine drove home the need for new improved research for pediatric cancer by sharing that Astronaut Neil Armstrong’s young daughter, Karen, lost her life in 1962 to the same disease, Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma, that took Ella’s life in 2016. Kristine said, “In 55 years, we can put a man on the moon, but we still do not have an effective treatment for DIPG. This is unacceptable.” There was not a dry eye in the crowd when Kristine showed a video tribute of Ella’s life.
At the end of the evening, Andrew Davis and Auctioneer, Kenny Williams got the crowd going during an exciting live auction. We are thrilled to announce that our 2019 Savannah Sisters on a Journey Event raised $130,000 for Catie’s Fund! These funds will support Precision Medicine which enables patients whose cancer has not responded to traditional methods to undergo genetic testing to help doctors decide which treatment might target that patient’s specific cancer without harsh side effects. We are extremely grateful to all our sponsors, auction donors, volunteers, high school volunteers, and tables hostesses who made this evening possible. Thank you, Savannah!
Presenting Sponsors for our 2019 Sisters on a Journey Events are Memorial Health, Coastal Electric, Savannah Toyota, and The McGraley Company.
