Start off with a glass of champagne and salmon and tuna tartare with citrus crème fraiche and English cucumber or go for an herb-crusted goat cheese and roasted tomato crostini and olive tapenade and a martini. Or head straight for entrees like pumpkin tortellini with sweet butter and sage, sautéed New York steak tips, a vegan wrap, or beef tenderloin in a parmesan crust and finish it off with fried brioche donuts. Go home with a new custom closets, a Hilton getaway, a soccer camp class or even an electric guitar!

It was like a playground for adults at the W Hoboken on Thursday, May 12, as the Hoboken Family Alliance threw their first Hoboken Spring Gala.

Guests enjoyed offerings from chefs from top local restaurants like Anthony David’s, City Bistro, The Clinton Social, Dino & Harry’s, La Isla, The Madison, 3Forty Grill, Zack’s, and Zylo, as well as a champagne station and martini bar sponsored by Pernod Ricard (where local parents patiently waited their turn).

Every guest had a chance for the giveaways, but you could up your chances by buying extra tickets to win prizes from Birchtree Builders, Daddy O, Hartshorn Portraiture, The New Jersey Devils, Joe Epstein Photography, Stevens Ducks Soccer Camp, Napoli’s, The Daily Outfit, Guitar Bar, and HBK Travel.

But it wasn’t all just about fun and games. The event was the first “marquis” fundraiser for the HFA, a totally volunteer-driven organization that’s been dedicated to supporting families and the entire community of Hoboken for more than ten years.

At the event, in addition to establishing a scholarship fund for local college-bound high school seniors, the HFA presented a check for more than $50,000 to the City of Hoboken on behalf of Project Play, an HFA initiative to rebuild all of the city’s playgrounds, starting in Church Square Park.

Hoboken Happenings to the HFA

Irene Sobolov, Amy Faucher, and Heidi Conlin have been there from the start. They have seen the group they began in 1998, then known as Hoboken Happenings, grow and transform from a small group of mothers on an Elysian Park bench into the HFA – a large, organized force for action in the community enjoying an elegant evening at the W!

Conlin explained that in those early days, they decided that they would use the varied skill sets they had gained in their professional backgrounds. “We had an amazing group of people and wanted to make a difference in the community.”

“We wanted to make [the city] more family-friendly,” said Faucher. They took on issues like pedestrian signage and the safe arrangement of park benches, and all offer a lot of credit to former Mayor David Roberts for acknowledging them.

Sobolov still remembers seeing their mailing list grow to 60 addresses and thinking, “Wow, we have a voice!”

“It’s touching to me to see it grow and continue to be important to the community.” Still, Sobolov added, “It’s bittersweet that it’s grown so big that I no longer know everyone in the room.”

But she noted that many of her circle, the ones who shared the trials and tribulations of late nights and diapers, have remained here and are now seeing their kids enter the ninth grade. “I’m proud to share that with the new moms coming up!”

Parks & Bonds

A sunny day in Liberty State Park almost exactly two years ago – May 5, 2009 to be exact – inspired Project Play, explain HFA members and Project Play leaders Zabrina Stoffel and Regina Gannon. The mission began to replace all of the aging playground in the equipment in the city of Hoboken, starting with Church Square Park.

The check they presented was the result of two years of hard work. Said Stofell, “But the city really embraced it, too! They were happy that a community group was spearheading a project that they wanted to do for a long time.”

And recently, the city council approved a bond which allocates $1.6 million to renovate playgrounds throughout the city.

Mayor Dawn Zimmer was thrilled to be there to accept the donation, noting that more and more families are making the decision to remain in Hoboken.

“It’s really an exciting time in the City of Hoboken,” said Zimmer. “It definitely takes involvement from the community, and we really appreciate all that the HFA has done to move the Church Square project forward!”

Before presenting the check, for $52,241 precisely, Stoffel thanked the City Council for passing the bond as well as all the restaurants and donors participating in the Gala, as well as local businesses like Club H Fitness, Liberty Realty, Hudson Honda and civic organizations like the Elysianettes and Hoboken Volunteers. And there were the individual acknowledgements, including Mayor Dawn Zimmer, former Mayor David Roberts, and Hoboken Police Captain Anthony Romano, who has attended every single Project Play event.

More to come

The HFA, explained Marketing Director Shana Lee, wants to do one major project each year. While Project Play focused on younger members of the community, the scholarship initiative came about because the organization felt they wanted to Bridge the gap between both older and younger children in the city. Ideally, Lee noted, the goal is to offer three $2,500 scholarships in 2012 to college-bound seniors who live and attend school in Hoboken.

But while the Gala at the W was their biggest, the organization hosts other events throughout the year. The largest of these, said Lee, are the Cabin Fever Festival in January, offering families a chance to get out of the house in the middle of winter, and an All Schools Open House in October, with attendance for each of these events around 700.

They also host two clothing swaps annually, a Spring Fling & Easter Egg Hunt, and a Winter Wonderland in Mid-December – a mini concert for kids held the past two years at Club H. And there are support groups, New Mom’s lunches and brunches and Halloween activities. The HFA also offers grants to non-profits throughout Hudson County and supports the city’s summer events series as well as the Hoboken Historical Museum’s annual Baby Parade. The tenth annual parade takes place this Sunday, May 15 at 1pm!

A community effort

Chef Anthony Pino, of Anthony David’s, Bin 14, and most recently AD Catering & Events, moved to Hoboken in 1994. “My kids [now ages ten and eight] grew up in the HFA!”

Added Pino, “All the other fundraisers are for a particular group. This one serves the whole city.”

Gerry Farrelly of Zack’s and his wife, Amelia McNamara, were also enthusiastic about their participation in the event. They got involved, explained McNamara, “because Zack’s has always cared about the community – and then there’s Zack’s community!”

Liana Moss has been a resident of Hoboken for eighteen years and an HFA member since 2001, after the birth of her first child. “It’s been great to get together with old friends and new ones,” said Moss of the event. “This organization has grown and doubled and tripled - and it’s so nice to see that they’ve organized it to the extent that they have. They do such great things!”

Seems the only real challenge for the night was finding a babysitter when so many Hoboken parents were out and about!

More info

For more information on HFA events, membership, and opportunities to volunteer – or to make a donation – go to www.hobokenfamily.com.

The W Hoboken is located at 225 River Street.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF KRISTA KELLY.