By STEPHANIE BRUMFIELD / Staff Writer

MONTEVALLO – Montevallo First Baptist Church hosted the seventh annual Tablescapes fundraiser luncheon Oct. 27, which was sponsored by the Centrala Garden Club of Montevallo. Ticket sales and silent auction bids raised $2,700 for the club to use for community outreach.

Loren Baggett, Centrala Garden Club member, said the event is a luncheon the club hosts every year to raise money for various community outreach projects, such as donating money to Shelby Emergency Assistance and the Parnell Memorial Library garden. In the past, club members have also been responsible for the upkeep and planting of flowers around the Welcome to Montevallo sign on Shelby County 22.

At the annual luncheon, members decorate 12 tables with different themes, hence the name “Tablescapes.”

“They’re usually gorgeous,” Baggett said. “It’s really fun, and we get to exercise our creative juices. A lot of us will already start thinking about next year’s table when we finish this year’s table.”

One member decorated a 50th birthday-themed table in honor of the club’s 50th anniversary, Baggett said. Other members decorated tables with themes of Route 66, Spiders/Halloween and “Frankly My Dear,” which was inspired by “Gone With the Wind.”

Club members served 100 people a homemade lunch of spinach salad, chicken pot pie, zucchini squares and chocolate tort, Baggett said.

Silent auction items included handmade crafts made by club garden members as well as items donated by local businesses, including wreaths, trees from local nurseries and a metal bench from Summer Classics.

“It was a whirlwind, but it was really fun,” Baggett said.