A tri-colored Eiffel Tower lit the way to the Grand Harbor Golf Club for the recent Wine & Dine Taste of France event to benefit the Hibiscus Children’s Center. Co-chairs Carole Casey and Mackie Duch and their imaginative committee organized the festive soirée in grand ooh-la-la-style.

Greeted with warm smiles and flutes of French champagne, arriving guests enjoyed the antics of a classic French mime even before checking in for the delightful evening. Tables filled the main dining room and each of the two side rooms to accommodate the sold-out crowd of roughly 250 partiers.

Grand Harbor Executive Chef James Mason and his exceptionally efficient staff presented a progressive buffet featuring food six food stations – charcuterie and cheeses, heirloom tomato and burrata salad, Coquilles St. Jacques, Ora King Salmon, veal osso bucco, and lava cakes topped with bourbon berry flambé – each paired with a selection of wines to compliment the mouthwatering French cuisine.

“Grand Harbor has gone over the top supporting what we’re doing,” said an ebullient Casey. “Grand Harbor supplied all the wine and our new chef did up a menu that is so creative. How are we going to top this next year?”

As guests left after the evening of dining and dancing, they were presented with a little gift box, hand stamped with fleur-de-lis and assembled by the creative Rosemary Smith, each filled with a croissant and jelly – perfect for a midnight snack or petit déjeuner.

“I am a former educator and I know that this population needs all the help they can get,” said Duch, noting that the ladies of the Hibiscus Guild are involved in considerably more than just fundraising efforts. “We do the fundraisers, but we also give them birthday parties with gifts, Christmas gifts, haircuts and clothes for proms; it’s a very hands-on organization. With all the women in the guild, their main focus is taking care of these teens.”

Proceeds will help fund Hibiscus Children’s Center, whose residential care facilities and recovery programs provide safe shelter and care to youngsters who are victims of child abuse, neglect and abandonment. At Vero’s Hibiscus Children’s Village, programs for teenagers ages 13 through 17 help them achieve high school diplomas or GEDs and learn basic life skills. As part of its Career Pathways program, Hibiscus recently opened its Graphic Design Impact Center to provide them with career skills for a better future.