<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0L6TSr_0wF4ZWY200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0L6TSr_0wF4ZWY200" width="600" height="450" ><figcaption>Ladies of the Lee Fendall House’s fiftieth anniversary celebration.</figcaption></figure>It was a perfect evening this past Saturday, October 19, when the Lee-Fendall House hosted a FUNraising fundraiser and friendraising party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic home’s founding as one of Alexandria’s most cherished public spaces. Almost everyoneknows someone who has been married in the intimate formal garden where fans of the18th-century Fendall homestead danced the night away on Saturday. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3dQBtK_0wF4ZWY200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3dQBtK_0wF4ZWY200" width="450" height="500" ><figcaption>The jazz ensemble Accidental Red provided the evening’s entertainment encore this year, inspiring dancing and romance under the stars. Photo Scott MacConomy</figcaption></figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=31bpwg_0wF4ZWY200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=31bpwg_0wF4ZWY200" width="729" height="1280" >The evening’s entertainment was provided again this year by Accidental Red, a flapper-happy and jazzmatazz band that performed in years past when the theme was a Roaring Twenties speakeasy, a nod to the home’s bootlegging legacy. Jazz Under the Stars was spearheaded by Board President Ed Horn with help from his wife Missy and the tireless talents of Event Chair Ceilie Holmes, along with party planners extraordinaire Linda Farmer and Rosanne Karaffa. The silent auction action was as competitive as ever with donations from popular local small businesses such as Reunions and Rocket Fizz drawing ever higher bids. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=4KIaYZ_0wF4ZWY200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=4KIaYZ_0wF4ZWY200" width="600" height="450" ><figcaption>The silent auction bidding was vigorously competitive thanks to the generosity of Alexandria business donors and friends of the Lee-Fendall House. Photo Scott MacConomy</figcaption></figure>Executive Director Sean Eyer and Collections and Programming Manager Jenny Waters were on hand providing additional support, serving up signature cocktails and taking photos of the special moments throughout the evening’s happenings. Support Good News Journalism, Subscribe &gt;&gt;<figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0pN49T_0wF4ZWY200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0pN49T_0wF4ZWY200" width="1003" height="1280" ><figcaption>Lee-Fendall House Board Chair Ed Horn, Alexandria Vice Mayor Amy Jackson, and Executive Director Sean Eyer celebrate 50 years of the Lee-Fendall House Museum and Garden. Photo Scott MacConomy</figcaption></figure>Alexandria Vice Mayor Amy Jackson and her husband Blaine Jackson attended the event, as they both have faithfully attended the annual Sips and Secrets soirées of years past. This year veteran flapper Jane Stevens outbid almost every competitor, including silent auction savant Ceilie Holmes and Vice Mayor Jackson, who is known for her generous support of Alexandria’s charitable and non-profit organizations. If you missed this fall’s FUNdraising 50th anniversary party be sure to check the museum website for all the exciting upcoming events and specialty tours offered throughout the year. And if you haven’t visited the Lee-Fendall House in a while you’ll be delightfully surprised tosee this grand lady has had a facelift, sporting new shutters and a recent repainting which approximates the oldest well-documented color scheme of the home that has borne witness to over two centuries of Alexandria history. <figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=34Kf4S_0wF4ZWY200" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=34Kf4S_0wF4ZWY200" width="449" height="500" ><figcaption>While Jazz Under the Stars wasn’t spotlighting bourbon per se, the signature cocktails served, Cosmopolitans and Old Fashions, hailed back to the time when bootleggers provided the libations for an otherwise dry Port City during Prohibition. Photo Kelly MacConomy</figcaption></figure></div></body>

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Celebrating 50 Years of the Lee-Fendall House Museum and Garden with Jazz Under the Stars

It was a perfect evening this past Saturday, October 19, when the Lee-Fendall House hosted a FUNraising fundraiser and friendraising party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the historic home’s founding as one of Alexandria’s most cherished public spaces. Almost everyone. knows someone who has been married in the...