BREWSTER

The Brewster Education Foundation, celebrating 26 years of excellence in education this year, has announced plans for its annual gala benefit dinner.

Dinner coordinator Jill Jacobs-Quinn said the event planned for March 13 at the Centennial Golf Club will be taking on a different look in conjunction with the Brewster High School musical production of Oklahoma.

“Formal attire will be replaced with a country western theme to get everyone in the mood to ‘kick up your heels’,” said Jacobs-Quinn.

Organizers predicted the event would serve as a catalyst for promoting the Brewster School District’s Performing Arts Department as well as recognizing the arts throughout the greater Southeast- Brewster area.

Each year the Brewster Education Foundation honors an individual, business, or group for going above and beyond the call when it comes to educating and assisting local residents. The 2010 Honoree Award will be presented to the school’s Performing Arts Department with George Viglucci, coordinator of the department, accepting this year’s award on behalf of his staff and students.

Jacobs-Quinn commended the department for becoming the “public face of the Brewster school community while enriching the lives of its students, families, and residents. Over the course of the past decade the department has grown in magnitude by exemplifying the arts found around our county. With the help and support of those who participate and patronize the arts, the Performing Arts department has come to define the Brewster School District and greater Southeast as a regional home for the arts.”

Tickets for the event are $50 per person and include a barbecue dinner, music, dancing, and an auction.

Seating is limited and Jacobs-Quinn has suggested making an early reservation by logging onto the foundation’s website at bef.org.

The Brewster Education Foundation which was New York State’s first nonprofit public education foundation, has awarded more than $850,000 in grants, awards, and scholarships to benefit Brewster children during the past quarter of a century.

Foundation President Dr. Nick Simonelli told the COURIeR: “With our motto of ‘Excellence in Education,’ the foundation’s goal is to recognize achievement while encouraging innovative approaches and at the same time fostering community service.”

—Eric Gross