Halloween Wedding: Irene & Steve

Irene last minute addition to her vows.

October 24--Somewhere in Maryland--Not my usual forte, but for friends how can I resist. A Halloween Theme Wedding, perfect autumn day, great food and friends. A lot of work, sweated a lot but the memories are worth it.

Waiting for the bride.

Steve

The ceremony

Irene

Steve's parents

Irene & Steve

The party in the barn.

The guests brought carved pumpkins.

Photos © Laurence L. Levin

Kraft Volunteer Days

October 7--Washington, DC--Kraft Foods nationwide volunteer day. The government affairs employees help to build a new playground in Ward 8.

The playground, tables, gazebo and benches were built.

Kaboom provided the playground equipment.

Day 2 at Martha's Table, a DC Food Bank, preparing food packages.

Half the employees worked packaging, the others did meal prep.

Photos Copyright Laurence L. Levin

Life Is Sweet 2010

2010 Best Buddies Virginia Life is Sweet
Life is Sweet Chefs and their Buddy

Best Buddies Virginia is dedicated to establishing a statewide movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Best Buddies Virginia partners with local public schools, universities, government agencies and other disability service providers to service over 10,000 lives in Virginia every year.

This year is the sixth annual Life is Sweet fundraiser. It is the major event that helps fund Best Buddies Virginia activities. Each chef is paired with a buddy to present a desert specially prepared for this event. Over 500 guest sample deserts from each of these award winner chefs and their buddy. For more info about the 2011 event contact Best Buddies Virginia

Kate Jansen, Willow and Suzan Basoglu

RJ Cooper, Rogue 24 and Nick Moore

Laurie Weber, The Swiss Bakery and Jeannine Ballandanderson

Chris Ford, Trummer's on Main and Andrew Roberts

Penny Karas, Hello Cupcake and Chris Filipos

Jason Reaves, Market Salamander and Carter McGavin

Lauren Whitledge, Art & Soul and Kelly Erikson

Susan Wallace, BlackSalt and Lauren Hyer

Michel Richard & Mark Courseille, Central Michel Richard and Jenny Holden

Patrick Bazin, Bazin's on Church and Cameron Graham

Peter Brett, Blue Duck Tavern and Caitlin Donovan

Tom Wellings, Equinox and Mike Charlton

Chris Hutcheson, Acadiana and AJ Kenworthy

Gian Piero Mazzi, Piero's Corner and Eric Latcheran

David Serus & Ryan Witcher, The Ritz Carlton and Ryan Gutkowski

Kate Baltren, Brabo and Sandy Lindamood

Cathal Armstrong, Restaurant Eve and Natalie Mills

David Gaus, Bayou Bakery and Turner Harris

Anthony Chavez, 2941 and Cory Blazer

Michelle Poteaux, Bastille and Max Douglas

Photos © Laurence L. Levin

2010 GMA Executive Conference

August 28-31, 2010--The Broadmoor, Colorado Springs, CO--Pamela Bailey addressing The Grocery Manufacturers Association annual Executive Conference. Representatives of the leading food manufacturers and their retail trading partners as well as government, business and academic leaders attend to discuss trends impacting consumers, the industry and the economy.

Douglas Conant, President and CEO, Campbell Soup Company in a panel discussion entitled "The Leadership Imperative: Sharing the Vision Throughout the Company."

Timothy Smucker, Chairman and CEO, The J.M. Smucker Company

Dr. John Quelch, Professor of business administration, Harvard Business School, leading the discussion: Tesco's Entry into the US Market.

Photography ©2010 Laurence L. Levin

(Tech notes: All images shot in available light, as provided by the hotel. This year we worked with the Broadmoor to add some spot lights. Thus the illumination was better in several of the rooms. However, it still is amazing to me how my digital cameras can get a good exposure along with processing each file in Photoshop. This workflow provides quality images for all types of publishing usage.)

Muir Woods

July 30--2010 Muir Woods, Mill Valley, California--Every time you turn, you can make a great photo. The light, the trees, the foliage, all are so beautiful. So instead of turning around, just pointed the camera up.

Photo © Laurence L. Levin

Special Olympics Opening Ceremony

July 19--Lincoln, Nebraska--The torch entering the Bob Devaney Sports Center at the Opening Ceremony for the USA National Games Special Olympics.

Wide view of the opening ceremony, Tim Shriver addresses the audience.

Lighting the torch

Photos © Laurence L. Levin

Pennies for the Planet

Annandale, VA, June, 10--Billy B, The Natural Science Song and Dance Man, leads students from Columbia Elementary School in an Audubon BioBash. The students earned this presentation because they raised over 76,700 pennies to contribute $767.41 for Audubon's Pennies for the Planet Campaign.

Over 400 Columbia Elementary students and teachers participated in the Pennies for the Planet campaign. This program raised over $45,000 in the past two years and connects young people with environmental issues and actions to protect nature and habitats.

More Photos at the Audubon Flickr site

All photos copyright 2010 Laurence L. Levin

Tom Brady and the Hyannis Port Challenge

Boston & Hyannis Port, MA, June 5-6--Verne Troyer surrounded by Miss USA Rima Fikah and other Miss USA contestants. At Harvard Stadium during the flag football kickoff event for the Best Buddies Hyannis Port Challenge.

Patriot's Quarterback Tom Brady lead both team.

The Brady hundle with Anthony Shriver and the Food Network's Chef Guy Fieri.

Tom Brady looking for receivers.

The start of the Audi Hyannis Port Challenge, a 100-mile bike ride and walk benefitting Best Buddies International.

Two tandem pairs during the 100-mile bike ride.

New England Patriot teammates Dan Koppen and Tom Brady compete in the Criterium.

New England Patriots, Pierre Woods, and Stephen Neal with Buddies.

Tom Brady with a Buddy.

All photography copyright 2010 Laurence L. Levin