As guests left the Blanton Garden Tea on April 18, they were already making plans to attend for next year.
“I’m going to call Rachel (Gregory at Sacred Heart Cultural Center) tomorrow to have her hold a table,” said Anne Proctor, who is a regular attendee of the parties that help raise money for Sacred Heart.
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Held at the Appling home of Dan and Patty Blanton, the tea sells out early with latecomers placed on a waiting list, said Millie Huff, Sacred Heart’s executive director. It’s an important fundraiser for the organization, with all of the ticket proceeds benefitting it.
“This event has raised more than $100,000,” Huff said.
The elegant late afternoon soiree on the grounds of the Blanton home draws guests for miles.
Aurora Gray planned a trip to Augusta from Queens, N.Y. with her mother, Victoria Gray and a friend, Vanessa Tyndall, with the garden party as one of the things to do.
Originally, she’d planned to stay with a friend who lived in the area, but when the friend’s plans changed, Gray’s did not. The group decided to make the trip anyway, with Gray making a long list of things to do thanks to a Google search, she said.
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She loves museums and history, and that’s how her search routed her to the Sacred Heart page. The trio was originally on the waitlist, but a cancellation helped them get in.
One of the things that impressed her most about the party was the guests’ attire.
“This is not common where I live in New York. At a party, at least one person is going to show up in jeans,” said Gray, who wore a long dress for the occasion.
Almost all of the guests sported their Sunday best. Many of the women wore hats or fascinators to complete their look.
While Gray’s party had traveled the longest distance, other guests came from Charleston, S.C., and Atlanta.
Patty Blanton has played hostess of the tea party for 16 years. Each year has a different theme, and the experiences are always memorable to guests.
“It’s just a lot of fun,” said Proctor. “She built a Japanese pagoda when she had a Japanese theme. She did an Alice in Wonderland theme. She has a heart that keeps on giving.”
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The April 18 tea had a theme of “A Proper Tea from a Country Farm.”
Blanton has a farm with animals and gardens; many of the items on the menu came from her land.
The meal started with a tomato soup with cheddar scones. Each year, Blanton makes marinara sauce from her tomato harvest, she said. The soup was made from that sauce.
Other menu items included tomato-stuffed pimento cheese, chipotle burger with peppered bacon, blueberry tea bread with lemon cream spread, corked Breton galettes and vanilla madeleines. Blanton said the galettes and madeleines were the most time-consuming to create.
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The final course was homemade ice cream. Blanton said she makes five gallons of ice cream a week with cream from her cows.
The event also features a speaker. This year, it was Blanton who took the microphone and had the guests laughing with her stories of animals on the farm, having a black thumb and the weather mishaps that can arise when planning an outdoor event.
While it’s a lot of work to do, Blanton said there are multiple reasons for doing it, not the least of which that it’s a good excuse to add to her china and silver collection. She also said it’s a good cause; it allows her creative juices to flow and she loves Pat Knox, whose family saved Sacred Heart years ago. Plus it makes her husband look good. He serves on the board of Sacred Heart. The reasons extracted more laughs from her guests.
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Blanton has included many stories and family recipes in a book called “Aunt Patty’s Funny Farm: Pollard Family Recipes and Memories.”
The tea kicks off several activities this week to benefit Sacred Heart, including an art exhibition reception from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 22, and a garden event from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, April 24, at Sacred Heart.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com.
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