‘Stella, Dice and Blues’ helps academic programs

by Larry Austin
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, May 6, 2006

Harmonica Dean and the Blue Lights performed April 28 at the Stella Niagara Education Park fund-raiser “Stella, Dice, and Blues.” Shown in the above photo are Juke Box Scales (left) and Harmonica Dean. (photo by Larry Austin)

Academic programs were the main beneficiaries at the Stella Niagara Education Park’s annual Key Event on April 28.

During “Stella, Dice and Blues,” Harmonica Dean and the Blue Lights performed in the dining room, while upstairs, silent and live auctions and games of chance helped raise money to cover the costs of tuition at SNEP, allowing children from all walks of life to have the same chance at learning.

“Our tuition only covers 60 percent of our costs,” said Joseph Pillittere, director of the Office of Institutional Advancement.

“We want everyone to have the opportunity of a quality education,” he added, a goal in keeping with the philosophy of the Sisters of St. Francis of Penance and Christian Charity, who opened Stella Niagara in 1908.

The school receives no parish money or state aid, but relies on the “kindness and generosity of our parents, our teachers, and the community,” Pillittere said.