Prairie Center gala blends music, food and art

Supporters of Schaumburg's Prairie Center for the Arts were in a quandary. Do they head first to the plaza to hear the 10-piece salsa band Banda Rik or head inside to hear singer Joan Hammel, acoustic jazz guitarist Steven Suvada and award-winning slide guitarist Kraig Kenning, all performing in different venues within the center.

And that's not to mention the food. Along with a wide variety of performers, were 10 of Schaumburg's best restaurant specialties to graze over.

Guests sampled everything from jumbo crab cakes from Sam & Harry's and Wildfire's famous chopped salad; to carved tenderloin sandwiches from Morton's of Chicago and grilled Atlantic salmon from Bonefish Grill.

"The food was to die for," said Lucinda Flodin, Prairie Center development coordinator.

It turns out the evening gala was a feast for all of the senses, as guests also enjoyed the talents of two caricature artists who provided whimsical mementos of the event.

Celebration 2007 took place Saturday at the center, and drew more than 300 guests, including its corporate supporters, season patrons and village leaders.

For the eighth year, Prairie Center Foundation officials mounted the eclectic benefit to raise money for its programming and outreach efforts, as well as to showcase the center itself and the caliber of its entertainment.

Consequently, they filled nearly every inch of the venue with entertainment, food stations and bars. They even placed a bar backstage, encouraging patrons to take the rare opportunity to see what goes on beyond the curtain.

"It's really about celebrating the arts in Schaumburg," Flodin adds. "We want people to see what we do here."

The bash wound up in the Maggie Atcher Theatre, where guests settled in to hear the celebrated gypsy jazz band, known as Alfonso Ponticelli & Swing Gitan, which has played the Chicago Jazz Festival, at the opening of Millennium Park and at the Reinhardt Festival in France.

This was one of only two fundraisers held each year for the Prairie Center. A second one takes place at the end of March; it features a different theme every year. Proceeds from both boost the center's youth programming and community outreach efforts.