FROM STAFF REPORTS

Hilltop Montessori School in the Town of Mt Laurel hosted its annual gardening, farm to table themed dinner on Thursday, Nov. 6 at the Stone’s Throw in Mt Laurel.

Sponsors of the event included EBSCO Industries, Inc., Teach Me Beauty, JohnsonKreis Construction, Bromberg’s, Frank and Pardis Stitt, Newsome Law LLC, Cardiology P.C., American Family Care, FoodBar and Bellinis Ristorante. Guests mingled in the brisk fall air, underneath festive lights and viewed the model of the Phase Three Expansion project for the school, presented by Bill Segrest and Jonathan Meadows of Williams-Blackstock Architecture.

Patrons dined on short ribs, shrimp and grits and homemade bread pudding prepared by Chef Chris Harrigan, while Jack Granger and Joey Longoria of Granger, Thagard and Associates conducted a live auction featuring auction items organized by Jenn Sides Stephens of Teach Me Beauty.

The most popular items were the Frank Stitt Experience, A Girls Night Out for 12 at Bellinis with swag bags from Teach Me Beauty, a Flemings Prime Steakhouse and Wine Bar Party for 12 and a Reserved Parking Spot at the school.

The most heavily sought-after item was a “Priceless Experience for Him and Her” that included a Louis Vuitton Damier Trevi GM handbag and wallet, a $5,000 shopping spree at Saks Fifth Avenue, a personal style consultation with Megan Larussa, founder of Southern Femme, and organizational services from Amanda LaBlanc of “The Amandas,” as well as golfing excursions.

This year’s event was the most successful in the school’s history, raising over $70,000 for the school’s future expansion, which will be a $3 million project that will house a community center, teaching kitchen that will offer organic lunches from the school’s outdoor gardens, as well as expanded classrooms, a science laboratory and a multimedia center.