Rescue Party

I'm becoming a fan of charity events. This one, at least, I was an attendee. Eric and I both were.

Indiana Landmarks is a charity that promotes the saving of historic, or yet to be labeled historic, building and landmarks across Indiana. While we both had heard of them before, we fell into their mailing list last year after donating to them on behalf of someone else. Of course, once your on a charity's mailing list, you get all the fundraising mailer from them. We bypassed this even last year, but this year, we decided to go.

After my experience at Make-A-Wish's even a couple of weeks ago, I had high expectations. MAW really has their event nailed down to a tee - it's run so well! I guess they've spoiled me. Granted, I know not all charities have the same backing or experience, so to think all event can be like that is sort of unrealistic. But I gotta say, Indiana Landmarks did a pretty good job!

They hold the even at their headquarters, which is a recently renovated church. It's a beautiful building, and I've been wanting to check it out since they finished it a couple of years ago - I pass it everyday on my way home from work! As soon as we walked up, we were welcomed with a local craft beer tasting - the brew was created for this event, basically. We proceeded inside, where it was really a free roam of the place, except for the office area. It's huge building, complete with a big sanctuary and, in addition, a small theater type area. Plus, there was a full basement, where they had artwork on display (and for sale). There was a nice spread of food and a bar in every main area.

After roaming around, they began their first of two programs. They started with the presentation of the Cooke trophy, given for best restoration of the year. Quickly after that, they had a cocktail creation competition with three area bartenders. It was pretty fun to watch and kept everyone very entertained. There was a short break before the next program, in another area of the building, where they ran down their list of "10 Most Endangered Places in Indiana" for 2013. This was followed by a charity auction - not quite as big as MAW's.

Eric and I actually left at this point. After the auction, however, they were planning on rounding out the evening with a band and dancing, while the dessert buffets came out. All in all, it was a very nice event! I wouldn't mind making this an annual thing for us - I think it's one of the few charities we both can kind of get behind. So until next year...