Karla Dunn, Alumni Program Manager
Sept. 19, 2019
September 13, 2019, a day that will live in infamy! MORTAR commemorated its 5th Anniversary Celebration with the party of all parties!
There were literally hundreds of partners, sponsors, friends, and graduates in the building to help us celebrate five years of pioneering, grinding, planning, networking, training and growing.
We named it the ‘MORTAR Immersion Experience’- 90’s style, meaning all things alumni, all food, all entertainment, all decor, all hospitality, every experience curated for and by MORTAR alums. It was awesome! And great time was had by all, so many compliments and kudos from everyone that was present, and that’s what we were going for…a lot of shine for MORTAR. Mission Accomplished!
Almost…
There’s one last spotlight still burning, and as the Alumni Manager I want to turn it on some particular people who made our immersion experience unforgettable:
Canita Alexander – Paityn’s Place Soul Food and Catering, supplied the hors d’oeuvres for the VIP Reception. Her selection of menu items was smart and inviting. At one point, I thought I heard a vacuum cleaner running because her food was disappearing from the table as fast as they could put it out!
Katie Lindsey – Two Women and an Oven, provided the main meal for the evening. Rave reviews for everything from grilled salmon to homemade cream cheese pound cake.
Keantha Brandy – Key’s Cheesecakes and Pies, so many varieties of petite cheesecake desserts, made your tastebuds dance and your eyes roll back.
Bonita Carlisle – Bonita’s Southern Style Sweet Potato Pies, as always Bonita came through with her amazing down home pies for all to enjoy.
Christina Davis – Davis Cookie Collection, can’t keep them on the shelf, the table or the plate! Everyone loved her cookies and we also congratulate Davis Cookie Collection who is opening a brick and mortar store on Reading Rd. in Bond Hill this year!
Andrea Sutton – Sugar, who’s decorating skills are on another made the most amazing MORTAR 5th Anniversary cake looks like a graffiti wall with a gold chain hanging off the side, you had to be there to see it. Congrats as well to Sugar which just opened a brick and mortar location in OTR recently.
Ashley Baggett – Gigi’s Kitchen, homemade yeast rolls like grandma used to make. Ashley was generous enough to donate rolls for the event and we really can’t thank her enough, especially between bites.
Ashley Thomas – Perfectly Posh Events, another level of balloon artistry, helped to transform the room with coordinated designs and gigantic gold chain balloons…step into the 90’s, please!
Lamika Barber – Michaya’s Sweet Spot Bakery, homemade donuts, at least five different varieties were on fire! From sweet strawberry glazed to cream filled with dark chocolate ganache on top….ridiculously good.
Athena Bentley – Pinky Chocolate’s Tea Parties, Weddings & Etiquette and Bentley Event Planning, has an astounding gift for creating an atmosphere to fit your event. Her table decor took our dessert tables to a sweet fantasy world and made every morsel on the table look amazing.
Ron Blassingame – Spkng In Tongues, created a spectacular Special Edition 5th Anniversary tee that commemorated every MORTAR graduate class from 2014 to 2019.
Donny Harper – Go(o)d Company Apparel, designed a special anniversary tee that reminded us that it is a good thing to do Go(o)d Business.
Adalia Boehne – KNOTTS, amazing band, amazing sound, kicked us off and kept us grooving.
Baoku Moses – BAOKU WORLD FUSION BAND, was on point and on fire! Setting a vibe in the house that kept the party jumping for the rest of the night.
Katie Dietz – Blue Man Twist, soft serve ice cream food truck yanked up in front of Longworth Hall and provided ice creams dreams for our guests all night.
Kristen Bailey – Sweets and Meats BBQ, yanked up on the other side of the door to serve up their award winning BBQ and sides all night long.
Rodriquez Stephens – A Child’s Drums, what a special treat to have a drum corp of children greeting every guest at the door with syncopated beats and rhythms!
Tony Jenkins – Midwest Promo Source, produced the MORTAR step and repeat banner in our photo booth area, which was so popular you needed a reservation to get in!
Yvonne Ballard – NOVE Decor, out of this world is the only way to describe the visual atmosphere that was created by Yvonne. Her eye for design and decoration transformed the party room into ‘MORTAR World’.
Harold Douglass – DJ HD on the wheels of steel, brought the party to the people until the break of dawn (well at least until 11 p.m.)
We thank you all for contributing to what can only be described as an overwhelming success, and we literally could not have done it without you. We all were fully immersed in what makes MORTAR so great, our fabulous alumni. We’re still drippin from all the fabulousness….
