Over 130 people welcomed spring this week at The Hearing and Speech Foundation’s Swing into Spring Fashion show and Luncheon. This third annual fundraiser took place March 23 at R.T. Lodge in Maryville, Tenn.

Guests started out the afternoon with a taste of Chef Rick Mace’s culinary vision, which celebrates the bounty of East Tennessee and simple reverence of county cooking. A simple spring salad of wild greens and shaved radishes was followed by Spring Mountain Farms chicken served with carrots, chickpeas and scallion. The meal came to a close with a Cruze Dairy buttermilk panna cotta and rhubarb compote. During lunch, guests had the opportunity to win door prizes ranging from dish mats and cutting boards to Martini glasses and concert tickets.

After lunch, attendees strolled outside to the covered stage and runway to view the latest in spring fashions. Abby Ham, WBIR anchor, described the fashions from Elle Boutique of Knoxville, Boyd Thomas Clothing in Maryville and Razberries, Maryville Chic Boutique, while models meandered down the runway. Desiqual, Joseph Ribkoff, Seven for All Mankind, Not Your Daughter’s jeans and Tribal were just some of the designers featured on the catwalk.

A silent auction and live plant auction, lead by HSF co-founder John Berry, helped raise additional money for the Foundation’s hearing aid assistance program. Flower arrangements for each table, provided by Trillium Cove Home and Garden, were also available for a donation to the Foundation and all found homes by the end of the event.

This annual fundraiser is a great way to raise money for the Foundation’s hearing aid assistance program, which currently serves 648 individuals in 27 East Tennessee counties, with 80 more individuals on a wait list for services. Through this program, individuals on low or fixed incomes are given hope and hearing they would otherwise go without. Click here for more information about this and other programs of the Foundation.

Special thanks to the sponsors of Swing into Spring 2010: Roma Renfro, First Tennessee, Blount Hearing and Speech Services, Trillium Cove Home and Garden, Lolita and Geof Kressin and media sponsor, Blount Today. We would also like to thank R.T. Lodge and Anderson Rental, both of which helped to make this year’s Swing into Spring a success.