Our youngest guest at the summer party!

More than 170 guests attended our second annual ArbFest summer party on July 20. It was a lovely, warm evening at the Arboretum—perfect for gathering, eating, and frolicking out of doors. The party was inspired by Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and guests enjoyed a Renaissance-style feast, specialty drinks, lawn games, and minstrel music, as well as songs and scenes from the play.

We raised over $25,000 for the Arboretum in ticket sales and sponsorship. Towards the end of the evening, our special guest speaker, ACT’s Kurt Beattie, asked partygoers to make an additional gift in support of our programs, and they obliged with donations totaling $1800. (One guest loved the event so much that she called us a few days afterwards to make an additional gift of $2500 and to become a member of the Arboretum Foundation.)

The grilled meats and other delicacies by St. Clouds were delicious, the rum-and-ginger cocktail created by Batch 206 Distillery was sublime, and the mini performance of the Bard’s immortal comedy by GreenStage brought down the house.

Thanks to all our generous guests, volunteers, and sponsors for making ArbFest 2017 such a special event.

More photos: See more event photos on our Facebook page.