Celebrating 100 Years - Together, with Balloons
This past May, The Craft Agency, Inc celebrated their 100th anniversary open house party. In honor of our many years of service, the Crafts sought to thank their colleagues and clients for their years of unbending support. The party itself had a wonderful turnout, all thanks to the many months of planning and preparation for the 3-hour celebration.
When discussing the open house, the question of “who is invited?” struck the committee of party planners. David and Bob suggested “Well, why not invite everyone? After all, you only celebrate 100 years once!” Invitations of all sorts were sent out throughout the month of April. Emails, newsletters, mailouts, phone-calls, social media posts; anything to get the word out to all our customers and supporters. When the time finally came to party, hundreds of people came to celebrate with us; employees, friends, family, clients, vendors, insurance carriers, and folks all around the community.
Ella Sharp Museum's Grand Community Room
The open house took place at Ella Sharp Museum in their Grand Community Room and outdoor patio. The room was decorated with Craft-colored balloons and 100 years’ worth of family/business memorabilia. From fresh-cut flowers sent by our clients, to the original Craft seal from 1923, every important picture, article, and antique from the last 100 years was present in one room, as well as giveaways for the guests. To add to the enjoyment, musician, Ian Stewart, was present at the party, playing a tasteful set of tunes on his acoustic guitar. Each round table included a framed picture of an old Craft memory. In preparation for the party, all physical pictures had been digitally scanned to compile into a singular PowerPoint, displayed above the stage where Ian played. The PowerPoint presented these historic pictures, as well as more current virtual pictures of Craft events and employees from the last decade or so; and a few of Olaf too!
Just outside of the Grand Community Room, was Ella Sharp’s bartending service. There, guests were served their choice of Founder’s Centennial IPA and an assortment of fine Achrimere’ wines hand-picked by David Craft. Selected wines included Rose’, Chardonnay, and Pinot Grigio, all supplied by Ella Sharp Museum and Aimee Vineyards, LLC. Non-alcoholic drinks such as soda-pop, tea, lemonade, and water were also available to guests. All drinks were poured and served into custom made plastic cups with the Craft’s 100th anniversary logo.
Past the drink station was the appetizing food from Sylvia’s Catering. Elise of Sylvia’s and her team of servers stood at their posts and individually served each guest the most delectable finger foods. Available were cheeseburger sliders with crispy onions on Hawaiian rolls, parmesan potato wedges, garlic and herb chicken and veggie kabobs, fresh vegetables with dips, with carrot cake and strawberry angel food cake cups for dessert. Not only was the food itself delightful, but so were the servers at Sylvia’s, who accommodated all the guests with bright smiles and efficient food and clean-up service.
Altogether, the evening was a great success! We would like to thank and share our deepest gratitude to the people that helped bring this event to life; the staff at Ella Sharp Museum, The Ballooney Bin, Sylvia’s, Aimee Mali, Ian Stewart, and our dedicated employees. Thanks to you all, we have successfully commemorated the hard work of our staff and the generations of Crafts before us.
We are grateful for the amazing people who support the work of Bob, Rick, and David Craft, who cherish the memory of their father Robert D. Craft and uncle James M. Craft, and honor the dreams of their grandfather, Merrill G. Craft, and Rafe S. Craft and that inspired them all.
A special thanks to JTV for capturing and sharing photos of our celebration. To view more pictures of the Open House, click the link below.
https://jtv.tv/the-craft-agency-100th-anniversary-event-5-18-23-photo-gallery/