Tea for two … plus a hundred more

Mad Hatter Tea returns bigger and better.

Kathleen Rudder knows how to throw a party.

And Kathleen Rudder loves to raise money for charitable causes.

Put those two together, and you’ve got a Reese’s Peanut Butter cup halfway out of the package before you can say Kathleen Rudder.

Rudder is hosting the 2nd annual Mad Hatter’s Tea fundraiser on Sunday, May 3rd at the Sierra Event Center. The event is the principal fundraiser that Mammoth Lakes Repertory Theatre holds each year.

Last year, the event drew more than eighty very good looking ladies in their best finery and big hats for what amounts to an afternoon of tea, conversation, great food and, of course, the mimosas which loosen the wallets once the auctions get into full swing.

So this is how it works. There are 14 duchesses for the event. each duchess is responsible for not only filling their 8-person tables, but also supplying their own china, their own tablecloths, their own silver, etc.

Therefore, you end up with a roomful of fabulous and unique tables.

Ducheses this year include:

Sharon Clark, Juliana Olinka, Lisa Wiles, Noelle Deinken, Lynne Blanche, Julia Contaldi, Aleksandra Gajewski, Luan Mendel, Val Kittenger, Simone Ardouin, Amy Ambellam, Gail Swain, Claire Olson and Diana Duenas

Anything Goes Catering is putting together the three-course menu. Never fear, lemon curd and petit fours are in the mix.

The entertainment is the mother-daughter violin duo of Sue Tonelli and Ariana Pope.

Sabrina Nioche, a tea sommelier (yes, they really do have tea sommeliers), has thoughtfully selected the four teas that will be served. I could reveal the teas here, but then I couldn’t go home tonight.

Silent auction prizes includes all-access passes to the Mammoth Lakes Film Festival set for the end of May, passes to the Food and Wine Festival and other great events put on by the Repertory Theatre and/or Mammoth Lakes Foundation.

The big live auction item is a staycation at the Westin with various perks thrown in.

So how was the event conceived?

“We were sitting in a board meeting, and I said ‘Hey, we need to make some money,’” recalled Rudder. “And I know that ladies like going to tea parties. Tea, Alice, Mad Hatter … the whole thing sort of came together by free association.”

Event planning is an art—a sometimes exhausting art, but as Rudder said, “It makes me feel good to make other people happy.”

And as Mammoth Lakes Repertory’s Shira Dubrovner said, “If there’s no Kathleen and Paul Rudder, there’s no event. We couldn’t do this without their generous donation of time, money and event space.”

Tickets for the event are $45. Those who wish to purchase tix/learn more can contact Shira Dubro