High Tea with the Symphony was filled with classical music, beautiful dresses, and of course, the full afternoon tea spread. Well in between the festivities, a few moms and their children took the time to share what motherhood means to them.
Attorney and ShePower mentor, Candace Neal opened the High Tea with the Symphony Mother’s Day event at Upstart Village with a letter to her mother from her younger self.
“I hope that the girls out there and mothers out there can identify with different parts of what I shared, and see still with their shepower that they can still transform their life,” Candace Neal said.
The event, a partnership between 23ABC, ShePower, the Bakersfield City Orchestra and other community sponsors, aimed to give mothers and their families a classy high tea. in a lush garden, guests sipped tea and ate finger food catered by Chef Ora Frink, while taking in a pre-recorded orchestra performance.
Bakersfield's Macy's even donated 500 dresses for mothers and their kids to wear. But the event went beyond the trimmings.
“Obviously if you look at our audience, it's brown and black girls, mostly black girls. To be able to share symphony, something many of them have not experienced, and to have a black woman performing, we hope they not only enjoy this experience, but that it would elevate what they would see as possible for them,” Arleana Waller, ShePower Global Ambassador said.
Christina Crompton, a mother of a ShePower leader brought 15 kids with her on Sunday, some her own, some her nieces and nephews, to experience what Waller just mentioned.
“When you see their faces, you see a vision of a future for them. And you can’t take that back,” Crompton said about what motherhood means to her. “All you want to do is see them do great.”
Even Waller, the ShePower Global Ambassador who organized the event, was honored for her other title: mom.
“I’m proud of my mom a lot, because she's a big influence on the community. So it’s good to have her around!” Waller’s son, Bentley Waller said.
