Thursday Teas at Two - Troy Historic Village

The day I left for England [April 30th], I had a ticket to attend a Thursday Tea at Two at Troy Historic Village.  The subject was Eleanor Clay and Edsel Ford.  My suitcase was packed and ready to go, so I attended the tea.  The speaker was a former docent at Henry and Clara Ford's Fairlane Estate, so they were part of the presentation as well.

The Power Point presentation had many photos, with Edsel Ford's at the beginning.

What caught my attention more than anything spoken that day, however, were the words written on one of the stained glass windows.  I've attended several teas in the church before, but never noticed the window until that day.  It says, "Look Up / Lift Up."  It reminded me of Psalm 121:1-2 "I lift up my eyes to the hills, where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth."  A great thought for the day!

Now fast-forward to June 10th when I received an e-mail from the Adult Programs Director stating there was going to be an extra 'bonus' tea in June, to be held on the 18th. Through a grant from the Mary Thompson Foundation, the Michigan Opera Theatre would be presenting their American Songbook Show.  I immediately called to make my reservation.

Many times it's been snowing or raining when I've gone to the Historic Village, but June 18th  was a lovely day, so I took some photos to share with you.  Below is the gazebo as you enter the Village.

~ I've posted pictures of the church before, but not with flowers in bloom ~

~ Next to the church is the parsonage ~

~ Lovely flower garden in front of the parsonage ~

I enjoyed reading the history of the parsonage - especially the line that said, "Over the years the walls of the parsonage echoed with... the clatter of teacups during countless meetings..."

Inside the church I got a cup of tea and some cookies.  The tea I chose was Passion Fruit and Papaya - a black tea.

The Double-chocolate Brownies and Peanut Butter Cookies were yummy!

A superb one-hour vocal concert was performed by Maria Cimarelli and Mark Vondrak, accompanied by Amanda Sabelhaus on the electric keyboard.  Most of the songs were before my time written by Cole Porter, Yip Harburg, and Arthur Freed, yet I recognized many of them such as Let's Do It, From This Moment On, Night and Day, Shine On Harvest Moon and Somewhere Over the Rainbow. Those songs are 'real' music! 

~ Amanda played a keyboard solo from My Fair Lady - I Could Have Danced All Night ~

The concert ended with a duet [All I Ask of You] and solo [Music of the Night] from Andrew Lloyd Webber's Phantom of the Opera.

June's regularly scheduled Thursday Tea at Two is this week, June 25th, and I will be presenting the program 'Aprons through History.'  Imagine my delight when I walked into the foyer of the church for the June 18th tea and saw an adorable apron on display advertising the event.

For local readers, there's still time to attend by calling 248-524-3570.  The price is $7 per person. The historic village is located at 60 West Wattles Rd., Troy, MI.  If you come, please introduce yourself to me.  Hope to see you there!