Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum Hosts 'Roaring 20s' Gala

From the Lockwood-Matthews Mansion Museum: On October 5, 2019 at 7 p.m., the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum will hold a Roaring Twenties Gala co-chaired by Trustee Gail Candlin and LMMM Chairman of the Board, Patsy R. Brescia. The event will include a black-tie dinner, auctions, and a special theater presentation by Play With Your Food, which will illuminate life in the 20s with a trio of short theatricals. The Gala will also feature the exhibition preview, The Trained Eye: The Art of Railroads & Stations, and the Mansion’s second National Legacy Award honoring Trustee Port Draper.

“The annual Gala provides key support to our cultural and educational programs,” said Ms. Brescia and Ms. Candlin; “An enchanting evening where patrons join us from all across the region to support the arts, American history, and one of Connecticut's most treasured National Historic Landmarks.”

Mr. Draper has been an energetic and vital force in the rehabilitation and restoration of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum. As a member of the Board of Trustees since 1978, he has shared his extraordinary engineering and architectural knowledge serving the Museum in many roles with distinction.

A Yale graduate with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, Port Draper has been a passionate advocate for architectural landmarks in Connecticut. Since 1968, he has managed and owned a building construction firm in New Canaan, CT, specializing in custom architecture and has worked with many renowned architects including the late Philip Johnson, Edward Barnes, and Robert Venturi. Port Draper is an enthusiastic sailor and lives in Norwalk, CT with his wife Katharine. They have three children and four grandchildren.

The Board of Trustees will honor Port Draper for his unwavering support of the Lockwood-Mathews Mansion Museum, for inspiring and educating people of all ages about engineering, architecture, and preservation of this National Historic Landmark.

JIB Productions, Inc., a not-for-profit arts organization, was created in 2005 with the goal of presenting innovative arts programming in traditional and non-traditional venues throughout Fairfield County. Play With Your Food, its popular lunchtime theater program, made its debut in Westport shortly thereafter, and has since expanded to Greenwich, Fairfield and now, Rye, New York. Seasons Readings (seasonal short stories and plays) was introduced in 2010 and followed by Short Cuts, an annual film festival of award-winning short films, in 2011. In addition, JIB is hired throughout the year to perform its scripted playreadings and stories for private parties, organizations, clubs, libraries and schools, often based around a specific theme.

The Roaring Twenties Gala is sponsored by LMMM’s 2019 Gala Benefactors: Fairfield County Bank; 2019 Gala Sustainers: Moran Towing and Brookfield Properties; 2019 Gala Media Sponsor: Moffly Media; and 2019 Gala Graphic Design Sponsor: Miggs B Design. The Museum’s 2019 cultural and educational programs are made possible in part by generous funding from LMMM’s Founding Patrons: The Estate of Mrs. Cynthia Clark Brown; The LMMM 2019 Season’s Distinguished Benefactors: City of Norwalk and The Maurice Goodman Foundation. Tickets for the Gala start at $200. Proceeds will benefit the Museum’s educational and cultural programs. The event will be catered by Best in Gourmet. For more info please visit lockwoodmathewsmansion.com.

This press release was produced by the Lockwood-Matthews Mansion Museum. The views expressed here are the author's own.