Tea in TN

Last July I flew down to Collierville, TN [near Memphis] to meet with the Life Enrichment Director at Story Point Retirement Community, for the purpose of planning a tea party.  You may remember my blog post about the trip.

Friday, October 21st was the day set for the tea party, so my son Jeremy and I flew down at 8:00 a.m.  The exterior of Story Point was decorated for fall and the interior was decorated for the community's first tea party.

Heather [the Life Enrichment Director] and her committee did an outstanding job executing all the details from our July planning meeting.

The State of Tennessee was the theme and the state's colors are red, white and blue, so those were the tablescape colors. A miniature state flag was placed in each floral centerpiece.

Tennessee is home to many country western singers and entertainers, and since most of them play guitars, a miniature guitar was at each place setting for a keepsake.

It's a fairly new retirement community [less than two years old], so they haven't had an opportunity to accumulate a lot of tea equipage yet.  With no tiered servers, the tea meal was served buffet style which worked fine.

The menu was centered around Tennessee favorites. Savories were: Pimento cheese sandwiches, garnished with a tomato wedge [tomatoes are the state fruit and one of the state's largest crops]. It's been said pimento cheese is so ingrained in the lives of Southerners that they don't realize others don't share their passion!   

Giving a nod to Elvis, there were Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches [his favorite].

Tennessee [Memphis in particular] is known for their barbecue, and they're also lovers of cornbread, so we combined the two and put a dollop of pulled pork in whiskey barbecue sauce in the center of miniature cornbread muffins.  South Pittsburg, TN hosts a National Cornbread Festival every year.

There were two large trays of assorted scones accompanied by mock Devonshire Cream, Strawberry Cream and Whiskey Butter.  Tennessee has 26 Whiskey Distilleries, with Jack Daniels being the oldest, so a nod was given to them in two of the foods.  

Desserts were:  Miniature Banana Puddings, the official dessert of Tennessee.  A National Banana Pudding Festival is held every October in Centerville, TN; Assorted Fruit Hand Pies [giving a nod to Dale's Fried Pies made in Knoxville], and Pecan Caramel Bars [not pictured].

The residents getting ready to enjoy the tea meal.

~ One of the committee members ~

I purchased Earl Grey Supreme tea from Harney & Sons to serve with the meal.  I took my two Farberware urns for steeping, and they will purchase their own for future teas.

Heather, the Life Enrichment Director, pouring tea.

The residents arrived at the dining room while southern tunes were played on a Grand Piano with a player system, and an Appalachian Dulcimer was displayed.  This instrument was enjoyed by Appalachian Tennesseans. 

A resident who said she's had her hat for more than 25 years and the tea party gave her the opportunity to wear it again.

This is the sweet lady who loaned all her teacups to be used for the event.  

Heather, the Life Enrichment Director, and me.  I wore my red, white and blue to honor Tennessee!

~ Curtis and Tim - Story Point Management Team ~

A candid photo while walking up to the podium.

When the residents finished eating they played a fun Tennessee trivia game.  I learned so much about the great State of Tennessee putting the trivia together.

The residents enjoyed the tea party and said it was TEA-riffic!  They're already talking about planning a Christmas Tea.   As I boarded the plane for the return flight to Michigan, wonderful memories of a fun day at Story Point came with me.  What an honor to share the joy of tea with great Tennesseans!  The Life Enrichment Director from Portage, MI community [western side of the state] flew on the plane with us to observe the tea in hopes of doing one there.  I hope tea parties catch on and are implemented at all Story Point communities.  

I hope you've enjoyed reading about the tea party.