Sunset Supper ENJOY GARDEN DINING AT ANNUAL CARMICHAEL PARK FUNDRAISER

Carmichael’s “Dinner in the Park” will be held Sept. 7 at two al-fresco locations.

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ollowing the sell-out success of 2017 and 2018 fundraisers, the Carmichael Parks Foundation will stage a third “Dinner in the Park” gala on Saturday, Sept. 7. The nonprofit funds improvements in 13 parks and provides scholarships for youth programs. Guests will amble over two hiddengem reserves. Cocktail hour will be bathed by sunset in the garden at Sutter-Jensen Community Park. Tables will be set for a moonlit farm-to-fork meal in the adjoining Jensen Botanical Garden. Local restaurants will supply appetizers and Carmichael’s Bella Bru Café will serve sit-down meals of tri-tip, chicken and portabella mushrooms. Chocolate torte will follow. Winding paths link the two parks and live music will serenade every step of the way. Following dinner, an auction will offer a Montana fishing vacation and other “experience” packages. As the immediate neighborhood provides little parking, guests are encouraged to walk, carpool or take

SM S By Susan Maxwell Skinner In Tune with Carmichael

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advantage of a free shuttle from Carmichael Elementary School on Sutter Avenue. The party begins at 5 p.m. Tickets are $125. Sponsors include Charles Schwab, Thomas Sharp CFP, Hensel Phelps Construction, Dignity Health Mercy San Juan Medical Center, SMUD, Kaiser Permanente, KMM Services, Paul Pennington, Assemblymember Ken Cooley and Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. On-site sanitation is donated by Wilkinson Portables. For more information, visit carmichaelparksfoundation.org.

TO QUEEN AND COUNTRY Jolly hockey sticks and pip-pip if you have British blood, ladies. There is a club for you. Once monthly, all across the U.S., select sitting rooms chime with china cups and accents as British as cress sandwiches. A 5,000-strong society called Daughters of the British Empire in the USA has a Sacramento chapter whose members dress for meetings as if they were popping off to Harrods. Tea is sipped. Laments are heard that few local restaurants know how to make a proper cuppa. Members treasure old-country tradition and support the society’s pursuit of friendship, charity and culture.

Sacramento leader (regent) Connie DaMant says some Daughters recall childhood evacuation from London during World War II. Another member, now 95, tells of how she married an American GI after a two-day wartime courtship. And yes, their marriage lasted. “We're fascinated by such stories," DaMant says. “For those of us who were born in the U.S., meetings are a chance to discover our heritage.” British ancestry—even by marriage—enables DBE membership. Commonwealth-born members hail from many nations where Union Jacks once fluttered.

Queen Victoria’s vast empire may no longer exist, but Elizabeth II reigns on gloriously for the Daughters. At the June meeting, they sang “God Save the Queen” for the enduring monarch’s 91st birthday. Sausage rolls accompanied the celebration. Strong breakfast tea was tipple of choice. “My wonderful English grandfather made me a tea drinker,” DaMant says. "I felt closer to him last year when I went to England for the first time.” Nationwide, Daughters support fundraising for DBE-run senior homes. They also sponsor young women’s college scholarships. National annual meetings are diverse as the Empire

Members of the Daughters of the British Empire raise their cups at a Sacramento meeting.