MINT HILL, NC – After a three-year hiatus, the Mint Hill Chamber of Commerce was able to host its Spring Tea on Saturday, April 30. The event was a wonderful afternoon highlighting many Mint Hill businesses through joyful conversations and fundraising. There were raffle prizes, silent auction items, a delicious meal, and a speech by podcaster and radio personality, Sheri Lynch.
Kim Rhodarmer with Servant’s Heart, one of the event’s sponsors, was one of the table hostesses. “The Spring Tea is such a lovely occasion for fabulous girls to come and take time for themselves. Plus, we get to come and support all these female-owned businesses are a part of the Chamber,” she smiles. The theme of the tea was “If I Could Turn Back Time.” This reflected the nostalgia the Mint Hill community might feel for the time before COVID. However, the afternoon was filled with positivity and thankfulness for what this city, state, and world lived and learned as it survived these past two trying years.
Joy Greear from Novant Health, one of the major sponsors of the event, began the program by expressing the gratitude that she felt for the support the Mint Hill community gave to her team during the pandemic. “There were people who helped us in so many ways. From the encouraging letters to the shared meals,” Greear remembered as she got choked up, “just – thank you from the bottom of our hearts. We are proud to be your partners today, the way you were ours over the last two years.”
Paige McKinney with the Mint Hill Chamber of Commerce echoed Greear’s sentiments. “We are so grateful for what our sponsors – Novant Health, First Citizens Bank, Servant’s Heart and all these other businesses – do in our community,” she said. McKinney continued to thank Chamber supporters as she sprinkled the rest of the event with raffles and silent auction items provided by local organizations.
As the tea was poured and the first course began, local Etiquette Consultant Tetnika Williamson gave a quick introduction to good and correct manners for a tea table. She gave valuable information about utensil placement, napkin decorum, and proper teacup “pinching” methods. She even shared fascinating historical information about the why behind the what within proper protocol for an afternoon tea. “I hope you learned something new and had a great time doing it,” Williamson concluded.
After a delicious three-course meal, everyone in attendance was in a great place for the “Tea-note” speaker, Sheri Lynch, to come and share. This was a fact that Lynch was grateful for since she explained she had been asked to achieve the daunting task of “making everyone feel better about COVID.” According to Lynch, only the Reverend Billy Graham could’ve achieved that goal, but ever the optimist, she was going to take a stab at it.
Lynch absolutely succeeded. Her speech matched the theme of the luncheon perfectly as she shared the things she witnessed during COVID – things that made her grateful. “The name for what we as a community have done isn’t COVID. The way we all showed up to convey how important we are to each other – that’s Community. The way teachers showed kids that they matter more than their report card – that’s Caring. The way health workers were there for sick individuals when their family members couldn’t be – that’s Compassion,” Lynch shared. “When I look back on the last two years, I’m thankful we got to ride this thing out in communities that are overflowing with compassion and caring.”
“We’ve been fortunate in an incredibly difficult time. Although we will be deeply changed by it, I think we’re better for it,” Lynch finished. “Every person in this room rolled up their sleeves and tried to be one of the helpers. And if there is a better place to be than in a room full of helpers in fancy hats eating cupcakes, I don’t know where it is.”
