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Mike here…Jane and I had the opportunity to photograph the 10th annual West Hartford Mayor's Charity Ball last Saturday night–we had a blast along with the attendees.  The highlight of the evening was the emcee himself:  John O'Hurley from Seinfeld, Dancing with the Stars, and Family Feud fame.

John was born and raised in West Hartford, and attended Kingswood-Oxford School.  He is very involved with a variety of charities and his dead-on comedic timing–and, of course, dancing (he auctioned off dances…see below!)–added so much to the event.

The Mayor's Ball benefited two West Hartford organizations,  The Grounds and HopeWorks.   The Grounds is "a place for West Hartford High School students to chill" and is housed in the old Barnes & Nobles building in Bishop's Corner.  HopeWorks provides counseling and outreach services to young people in West Hartford.

Highlights from the night are below…hats off to a great evening and great cause!

John O'Hurley spins West Hartford Councilwoman Shari Cantor around the dance floor:

The kids from The Grounds dressed up as movie stars (Audrey Hepburn in the background below) and The Grounds paparazzi had lots of fun greeting the attendees.

 
 

The group shot of the West Hartford Mayor's Ball Organizing Committee–including Scott Franklin, Ronit Shoham, Karen Connal and Kathy Lommele:

John O'Hurley and Mayor Scott Slifka:

Lisa and John O'Hurley and our  friends Adria and David Giordano!

The current and former Mayors (from left Rob Bouvier, Scott Slifka, Catherine Reynolds, Kevin Sullivan and Jonathan Harris)…"Puttin' on the Ritz"….

We loved this dress and cocktail combination by Ronni Newton, Managing Editor of Living in West Hartford Magazine:

The high bidder for the Red Sox tickets right behind home plate….

 

State Senator Jonathan Harris announced his engagement to Lucy Morin at the ball:

John O'Hurley as auctioneer….

  To view or purchase these pictures, you can visit  the gallery by clicking here.   All proceeds will be donated to the West Hartford Mayor's Charity Ball to support  HopeWorks and The Grounds.

We recently had the opportunity to shoot a great group's biggest annual fundraiser, Hartford's West End Civic Association's (WECA) Progressive Dinner.  We shot the cocktail party before 240 guests went on to numerous different houses for a nice dinner, to get back together at the end of the evening for dessert at another West End home.

Living in West Hartford, about a mile from the West End, I saw some familiar faces including John from the Town & Country Club:

 
…and then here are my friends Ken and Sally (who I met by shooting their wedding 4 years ago) shaking hands with the Mayor of Hartford, Eddie Perez:

 

Great to see neighborhoods working on improving the local community!

One thing I love about photography is getting to experience situations and see portions of other people's lives and careers that I wouldn't normally get to see.  Recently, I had the pleasure of shooting Connecticut State Representative Andy Flesichmann's 2008 campaign photos, including portraits and candids at a recent political meeting in West Hartford. 

Andy is the State Representative for the 18th District in Connecticut and is serving his seventh term in the House.  Andy serves as Chairman of the Education Committee, Chairman of
the Appropriations Subcommittee for Elementary and Secondary Education,
and is a member of the Joint Committee on Government Administration
& Elections.  You can learn more about his campaign here.