On Saturday, November 4, 2006, the Parents Organization of The New England Center for Children (NECC) hosted its Fifth Annual "A Night of Music" event at historic Mechanics Hall in Worcester, Massachusetts.

This exciting event included a silent auction, live auction, slideshow, dinner, and, of course, music! To begin the night, guests were entertained by the Worcester Polytechnic Institute's Jazz Ensemble directed by Professor Richard Falco as they enjoyed hors d'oeuvres and cocktails and bid on over 150 silent auction items. Dan Rea of CBS4 again served as Master of Ceremonies at the event and had the honor of introducing Congressman James McGovern who stopped by the event to show his support and say a few words.

At dinner, Chief Executive Officer & Founder Vincent Strully, Jr. welcomed and thanked the guests before introducing the keynote speaker Dr. Janice Ware of the Developmental Medicine Center at Children's Hospital Boston. Then Parent Event Committee member Carol Rosenfield introduced the Committee Co-chairs, Angela Masiello and Susan Ruzzo, who then introduced a very touching slideshow presentation, depicting many of the students from NECC with their families. After dinner was served, Dan Rea then started the live auction where many items were bid on for over $2,000! Guests then listened and danced to WPI's Big Band directed by Rich Falco with special guest jazz vocalist Linda Dagnello.

Besides being a wonderfully enjoyable evening, over $100,000 was raised at the event, which includes over $40,000 from the silent and live auctions. All money raised will benefit NECC's Annual Fund which allows us to provide our students with the learning environment they need to achieve greater independence. "A Night of Music" was a fun-filled night enjoyed by everyone involved!

If you have any questions regarding this event, please contact Jennifer Eames at (508) 624-0497, ext. 4 or jeames@necc.org.

Thank you to all of our sponsors who made this event such a great success!