English Couple Raises More Funds for Orphanage
October 23rd, Sue and Keith Gudgeon of the village of Charlton Horethorne in Somerset, South West England held an Art Exhibition and Auction as a fundraiser for the children. Fourteen artists donated work and they auctioned 51 pictures. Also supporting their efforts was Patrick Boucard, the Haitian artist who lives in Bath (about 30 miles away). Mr. Boucard brought a number of paintings and stayed all day, giving a short talk and film presentation prior to the auction. He is raising funds for his hometown of Jacmel and has generously offered to donate to the orphanage some of the proceeds from a concert, which is planned in the spring of next year. A very generous offer indeed!
The Art Exhibition and Auction netted in the region of £725 so they are donating another $1000 to Maison Fortune Orphanage Foundation. The pictures show some of the painting that were part of the exhibition and auction. A big thank you to our friends across the pond.
Charleton Horethorne, England
Rocks for Haiti!
On Saturday 26th June the village of Charlton Horethorne in Somerset, South West England, danced the night away for the Maison Fortune Orphanage in Haiti. Local band “The Diamonds”, led by vocalist Fraser Henderson who, in the past, supported The Rolling Stones, Roy Orbison and Gene Pitney, played an endless range of 1960’s numbers which had the assembled throng on its feet most of the night ! The event was arranged by Sue and Keith Gudgeon who started the Maison Fortune Appeal in May 2010 to raise funds in the UK. The evening was nearly thwarted however by a swarm of bees which attached itself to the Village Hall entrance just hours before the event ! Jill and Richard Baker, local beekeepers, managed to contain the problem just in time before guests started to arrive !
Charlton Horethorne is a village of just 500 or so people so Sue and Keith are delighted with the response to their Appeal which has so far raised over £800 and which has allowed $1000 dollars to be transferred to the Foundation for the purchase of a solar panel for the solar energy project.
The next event is an Art and Craft Exhibition and Auction around October that they hope will be equally if not more successful. In addition, a Burns Night Celebration (bag-piper and all !) is in planning stage for January 2011. Until then, Sue Gudgeon will be pushing the sale of a book (The Other Side of the Counter) she wrote about the experiences she and her husband had restoring and running their local village shop! All the proceeds from sales will go to the Appeal.