Oracle Schools Foundation – June 2025

Welcome Spring with an Afternoon Tea

Mary Jo Bellner Swartzberg

What is more delightful than an afternoon tea, complete with beautiful, vintage china, and an alluring tablescape appointed with spring flowers? And so it was on May 4 at the beautiful home of host Maria Menconi. Twelve ladies were festooned with “tea apparel,” including fascinators and brimmed hats. It was a scene right out of the Royal Family’s Sandringham Estate.

Upon arrival, champagne was poured and the attendees had an opportunity to meet and greet each other. Assorted tea sandwiches (coronation chicken, mozzarella, spinach and roasted red pepper, saffron shrimp, roast beef, and lettuce with horseradish) were served while the history of Afternoon Tea and High Tea was given. Two English teas, Jasmine Floral and London Fog, were presented for tasting.

An array of plated scones (strawberry and cream, rose and raspberry, lemon and raspberry, and sourdough blueberry with lemon glaze) were placed on the tables. These were soon followed by tasty sweets (puff pastry hearts, mini key lime cheesecakes, assorted macarons, and vanilla bundt cake with berries and cream).

It was a befitting afternoon in which to languish in the English style!

The hosts for the event were Maria Menconi, Allan Lyon, Gayle Hosek-Spies, and Gary Spies.

Tea Trivia

• “High tea” is called that because it was traditionally served at a high table, unlike afternoon tea, which was often enjoyed on low tables or sofas.
• The most popular tea in England is black tea, often consumed as English Breakfast or Earl Grey. It is typically enjoyed with milk.
• Traditionally, the British do not drink iced tea. However, iced tea is becoming more popular, largely because of the ready-made iced tea options in supermarkets.

The Welcome Spring with an Afternoon Tea was a fixed price item that was offered at the March 15, 2025, Oracle Schools Foundation Gala, the Foundation’s most important fundraiser. The Gala consists of fixed price items, a silent auction, and a live auction. The theme this year was “Ten Years of Champions Helping Children.”

The Oracle Schools Foundation was created by SaddleBrooke residents who recognized that the students at the Mountain Vista School in Oracle needed a free kindergarten prep program for three- and four-year-old children. This program is not funded by the State of Arizona, although research strongly suggests that early education predicts later success in school and in life.

Mountain Vista is a Title I School in that it serves and educates many students from low-income families. The majority of students qualify for free or reduced breakfast and lunch.

Note: There are still some items available that were offered at the 2025 Gala. Go to the Oracle Schools Foundation website at www.oracleschoolsfoundation.com for further details.

Plans are currently underway for the 2026 Oracle Schools Foundation Gala. Details will be forthcoming!

A Most Wonderful Jewish Dinner

You did not have to be Jewish to enjoy the homemade Jewish dinner that Joy and Bill Erickson and Sherry Kaplan hosted at the Erickson home on April 27. The dinner tables (one outside and one inside) were beautifully appointed with a comfortable and welcoming elegance. The 15 attendees paid $75 each for the Jewish dinner, which was one of 22 fixed price items offered at the Oracle Schools Foundation 2025 Gala on March 15.

The Ericksons offered their home for the dinner, and friends and members of the Jewish community donated the memorable Jewish food for the evening. A big thank you to these donors for helping to bring the taste of Jewish cooking to the dinner table: Marilyn Anthony (challah), Sandy Basker (sweet and sour meatballs), Melanie Einbund (soup), Marsha Foresman (sweet and sour meatballs and beef brisket), Judi Friedman (raisin challah), Esta Goldstein (apple cake), Sherry Kaplan (kugel and beef brisket), Susan Kendal (Kahlua brownies), Diane Korn (rugelach), and Lonnee Plattner (mandel bread).

And, of course, many thanks to Joy and Bill Erickson and Sherry Kaplan for all of their time and effort to ensure that this event was outstanding.

The Oracle Schools Foundation was created by SaddleBrooke residents who recognized that the students at the Mountain Vista School in Oracle needed a free kindergarten prep program for three- and four-year-old children. This program is not funded by the State of Arizona, although research strongly suggests that early education predicts later success in school and in life.

Mountain Vista is a Title I School in that it serves and educates many students from low-income families. The majority of students qualify for free or reduced breakfast and lunch.

Note: There are still some items available that were offered at the 2025 Gala. Go to the Oracle Schools Foundation website at www.oracleschoolsfoundation.com for further details.

Plans are currently underway for the 2026 Oracle Schools Foundation Gala. Details will be forthcoming!

Music, Memories, and More

Janet Gulden

One of the many fixed price events associated with the Oracle Schools Foundation Gala and Auction was held on April 27 at the home of David and Janet Gulden, with co-hosts Anne and Bob Hilton. Dan Berquist, a cocktail pianist and frequent performer at the MountainView and the SaddleBrooke One clubhouses, shared his amazing talent on the piano. As guests arrived, Dan played beautiful background music as everyone gathered on the patio for drinks, food, and conversation.

Afterwards, Dan entertained the audience with melodies, medleys, and mash-ups of favorite songs from the past. In the mash-ups, he creatively combined a classical piece with something more popular. A crowd favorite was Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata” and Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah.” You won’t want to miss this event next year!

The Oracle Schools Foundation is a SaddleBrooke (SaddleBrooke One, SaddleBrooke TWO, and SaddleBrooke Ranch) 501(c)(3) organization that provides pre-kindergarten funding (which the State of Arizona does not fund) and other academic opportunities to students in need. For more information about this foundation, go to www.oracleschoolsfoundation.com and save the date for next year’s Gala on March 14, 2026. If you would like to donate to the silent, live, or fixed price auction, please contact Ann Vernon at vernonann47@gmail.com or 520-405-2622. We do not accept any tangible items—just made-to-order food items and services for the silent auction. Our fixed price auction events accept theme dinners, parties, and “how to” classes. Thanks to all who support the Foundation.

OSF Fundraising Event

Bonnie Barazini

‘Twas the morning of May 6 with rain coming down. The hosts of a fundraising event for the Oracle Schools Foundation were wondering what they were going to do. At 5 p.m., 55 guests who paid $60 per person would be arriving at the Barazanis’ home for hors d’oeuvres, wine, beer, dessert, and music provided by Chuck Moses. At about 3 p.m., the skies cleared and the “show went on.” The hosts (Bonnie Barazani, Kali Cohen, Virginia Loranger, Maria Miller, and Karen Richey) provided an amazing array of food spanning three, six-foot rectangular tables. One of the guests asked who catered the food—a supreme compliment to the hosts.

The event raised almost $4,000. In addition to the attendees, many donated to the Oracle Schools Foundation, even though they were not able to attend. The evening was a great success!

Starry, Starry Night

Mary Jo Bellner Swartzberg

It was scheduled for April 1. However, the weather in SaddleBrooke was proving to be cantankerous at best and, in addition, the starry sky above SaddleBrooke was going to consist of murky clouds. So, Terry Joyce and Chris Mobley decided to reschedule the Starry, Starry Night event to the following week on April 9—a brilliant decision that was matched only by the wonderful hors d’oeuvres and beverages served that evening.

The moon that evening was in its Waxing Gibbous phase, meaning that the moon was more than half illuminated but not totally illuminated. The moon was visible through most of the night sky and set a few hours prior to sunrise. Still, the night sky was very conducive to sky gazing.

Terry and Chris, aided by Ben Eisenstein and Richard Spitzer, set up their 18-inch telescopes both in front of the house and on the back patio, which provided different sky gazing options for the evening. And as the sky darkened, the stars, constellations, and other objects in the sky were readily seen. The amateur astronomers provided background details about what was seen in the skies that evening. Also, Terry handed out a sky trivia contest sheet for the attendees.

The hosts for the Starry, Starry Night event were Terry and Teresa Joyce, Chris and Sue Mobley, and Barry and Mary Jo Swartzberg.

The Starry, Starry Night was a fixed price item that was offered at the March 15, 2025, Oracle Schools Foundation Gala, the Foundation’s most important fundraiser. The Gala consists of fixed price items, a silent auction, and a live auction. The theme this year was “Ten Years of Champions Helping Children.”

The Oracle Schools Foundation was created in 2015 by SaddleBrooke residents who recognized that the students at the Mountain Vista School in Oracle needed a free kindergarten prep program for three- and four-year-old children. This program is not funded by the State of Arizona, although research strongly suggests that early education predicts later success in school and in life.

Mountain Vista is a Title I School in that it serves and educates many students from low-income families. The majority of students qualify for free or reduced breakfast and lunch.

Note: There are still some items available that were offered at the 2025 Gala. Go to the Oracle Schools Foundation website at www.oracleschoolsfoundation.com for further details.

Plans are currently underway for the 2026 Oracle Schools Foundation Gala. Details will be forthcoming!