Melbourne, Fla. – Forget about Octoberfest’s beer and brats; an alternative fun-fest is the Lamb Shoppe’s October  “Bling-Fest”,  featuring fun costume jewelry at thrift shop prices!  This new event will run October 18 through October 30 and is the perfect venue to find special pieces among the pins, necklaces, earrings, bracelets and rings donated by Haven Guild members and friends.

The Lamb Shoppe, 1765 S. Patrick Dr., Indian Harbour Beach, is an all-volunteer thrift shop managed and run by Haven Guild members.  All proceeds support the Haven for Children, a safe residential shelter for abandoned, neglected and abused children.  For directions or information, please call the Lamb Shoppe Mon-Sat 10:00a-3:00p at (321)777-6606

On October 2, 2010, the Havenly Affair will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of The Haven Guild, at the Hilton Melbourne Rialto Place at 6:30 p.m. This year we will feature the lively music of "Len Turner and the American Express Band" for your dancing pleasure. Genna Jewelers has once again donated an exquisite piece of jewelry that not only one, but TWO very lucky guest(s) will "wear away". It is a his and hers Movado timepieces from the Esperanza Collection. Petty’s Meat Market will again be providing fine wines from around the world. 

This years Havenly Affair will celebrate 20 years of success; success that you, each and every one of our members, have contributed towards! Without all of our past and present members, the Guild would not be the outstanding organization it is today. We invite you to celebrate this evening with us, and perhaps invite a past member to join you in celebrating this joyous occasion. There is no need for a purse at this event - this is truly a celebration and no further purchases are required.

Since it’s inception, The Haven has provided a home for over 1,000 children, and the ultimate goal of providing a "forever" homes has been accomplished 83 times in just the past five years alone. Members, give yourselves a pat on the back for playing a huge role in this endeavor! Some of the many services The Guild has provided includes dinners 365 days a year to three separate homes, birthday cakes for each child, gifts for holidays and special events, vehicles in which to transport the children, funds for extracurricular activities, and financial support for daily living. If you would like to be a part of this, become a member for the incredibly low price of just $25.00 per year! We would love to have you join our family.

Whatever you decide, do join us on October 2nd in "A Toast to 20 Years" of success at the Havenly Affair! 

For additional information contact Victoria Wilmarth at (321) 610-7684; vicwilmarth@cfl.rr.com, or Carol Colombo at (321) 952-8569; Cardy54@aol.com.

We look forward to celebrating this milestone with you!

Kimberly Straehla, Executive Director of The Haven for Children, Inc., spoke at the awards ceremony following the Haven Challenge Golf Tournament on March 27, 2010.  Here’s what she had to say.

“April is National Child Abuse Prevention month.  We all think of abuse as something that happens in large cities and not something that happens in our own backyard.  The Haven serves infants, children and adolescents from our area that are all victims of child abuse and neglect – unfortunately the need for our services does not go away.  Join us in the fight against child abuse!"

Several Orlando Magic dancers were on hand to help players find their way to registration and the practice range.  We had 148 golfers participate on a beautiful spring afternoon and evening at Suntree Country Club. We had a record 11 corporate teams participate and over 70 sponsors support our cause. Orlando Magic Ambassadors Bo Outlaw and Nick Anderson spent the day on the course and then emceed the evening awards presentation and auction of Magic memorabilia. The highlight of the day came when Charlie Snell made a hole-in-one on hole #2 and won a 2010 Buick LaCrosse donated by Lane Buick-GMC of Melbourne.  Charlie’s playing partners were John Abernathy, Bob Cook and Bob Stewart.

Prizes were awarded in the Corporate, Open and Ladies’ divisions.  The Harris Corporation team of Dan Pearson, Dick Anderson, Don Montgomery, and Chuck Zahm won first place and took home the Swarovski Trophy for another year.  Viera Company team came in second with Steve Johnson, Joseph Duda, Nick Lindheim, and Dave Tomczak playing.  Open Flight winners were:  first place—Chris Stellato, Joe Hankins, Justin Parsons & Greg Riddlehoover; second place—Jeff Piersall, Tyson Misleh, Scott Widerman, & Steve Smith.  Ladies’ division winners were:  first place—Jeanette Gibbons, Pansy Brown, Peggy Shoemaker, and Cisco Van Dyck; second place—Millie Young, Anne Murphy, Joyce Amarel, and Barbara Mahoney.  Longest drive winners were Cisco Van Dyck and Nick Lindheim.  Closest to the pin winners were Jeanette Gibbons and Michael Paller.

The golf tournament is the only fundraiser the Board of Directors of The Haven has each year.  It is an all-volunteer effort so costs are kept to a minimum.  All proceeds go to help the 31 kids who have been removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect.  With the ongoing support of sponsors, players and community, we can continue to make a difference one child at a time!

We would like to thank our generous sponsors for their donations and underwriting of this event.  Major sponsors included Starwood Vacation Ownership, Matthew Development LLC, Craig Technologies, Harris Foundation, Sorensen Office Solutions, Publix Super Market Charities, Mike Sapourn/Dave Dyer/Dave LaRue, The Highland Mint, Jim Nance, LiveTV and Lane Buick-GMC.  Click here to see the complete sponsor listing.

We would like to thank all the players who signed up to play this year.  For those of you who didn’t get to play because we sold out, we apologize and hope you sign your team up early next year.  We also would like to thank all our volunteers for doing an outstanding job.  A special thank you to the Orlando Magic for their participation and support!