The Coronado Library hosts many entertaining events throughout the year for Coronado residents and families. One of the most anticipated has to be the spring tea party that occurs in May. This year’s took place on May 6th from 1 to 2 pm in the Winn Room.
Every year the tea party is based on a different popular children’s book. This year’s was “Madeline” themed. “Madeline” is a book written by Ludwig Bemelmans, the first in a series of seventeen books total. The books follows the life of seven-year-old Madeline, who attends boarding school in Paris, France, with several other young girls and their caretaker.
Librarians Ms. Tara and Ms. Jennifer help plan and organize the event. Also, the junior volunteers have helped run this event for years now and were present this year as well. These volunteers have been prepping the tea since fall of 2022 by peeling crayons, folding coloring papers, steaming tulle, and more. All of the volunteers and staff were very excited for the day to finally arrive.
At the event itself, there was a packed house and all the seats were sold out. Every guest came dressed up and some of the children even came dressed up as the book character, Madeline. In other words, everyone in attendance was “très chic.”
For this year’s tea, the Winn Room was transformed into a total Parisian setting. The room had floral centerpieces on each table, multicolored tulle ribbons on the curtains, and lots of Eiffel Tower decorations. Set-up occurred the day prior to the tea party and the crew did a fantastic job. Also, the volunteers set up an Eiffel Tower backdrop to be the photo station for the event.
The junior volunteers ran the welcome table and refreshment stations. At the refreshments table were French-inspired snacks for families to enjoy. Some being macarons, quiches, and, of course, plenty of madeleine cookies. For the beverage options, the lavender lemonade was a popular choice among the children in attendance, but some ventured over to the Earl Grey tea station.
Unbeknownst to the guests, there was a giveaway at the tea party for the floral centerpieces at each table. After the announcement, all guests looked under their seats to see if they were the lucky winners. Although the biggest giveaway prize went to one family who won a copy of the book “Madeline,” along with a doll version of the main character. Even the guests who didn’t win had a great time enjoying their treats and tea (or lavender lemonade, if that struck their fancy).
As always, the event was a massive hit and all families had a wonderful time at the tea party. It’s a satisfactory feeling to see all the hard work the library has put into an event turn out so marvelously for the Coronado community. Here’s to hoping next year’s tea party is even better! Finally, if any teenager, in grades six through 12, has interest in volunteering at next year’s tea, check out the application online or in the library’s teen section.
