A sense of place

THE RIGHT NOTES

Why this annual event is so close to my heart.

While some consider September to mark the end of summer fun at the shore, there are still plenty of reasons to visit this time of year. With its beautiful weather, lighter traffic, and abundance of festivals and events, September is one of my favorite months to be a Jersey Shore resident.

I’d like to take this opportunity to share some information on one of my favorite annual fundraising events: The Right Notes, presented by The Donovan Financial Group of UBS Financial Services. The Right Notes is South Jersey’s fight against multiple sclerosis, and it will be held on Thursday, September 22 at Greate Bay Country Club in Somers Point. This year marks the 8th production of The Right Notes and 10 years since the event’s inception in 2012. To date, the generous support of event attendees and donors has allowed The Right Notes to raise over $500,000 to benefit the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and those living with MS in our local community.

The Right Notes is very personal for me. My mom, Jayne Bray, was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1990, and finding a cure for MS has been the charitable focus of Passion Vines since we first opened our doors. This debilitating neurological disease moved my mom from a cane, to a walker, and ultimately to a wheelchair. These circumstances, despite their challenges, never led Jayne to a space of negativity. Rather, she chose Grace — which was visible and felt by everyone she met. In June of 2022, Jayne passed away peacefully, surrounded by her family. Because of Jayne, The Right Notes was born, and in Jayne’s honor, we will keep going.

The Right Notes is produced collaboratively by the National MS Society, Passion Vines, and Greate Bay Country Club, and it remains the only fundraising event of its kind in South Jersey. The main feature of the evening is a large-scale wine tasting, including more than 100 top-scoring wines from around the world. To complement the impressive wine offerings, the event also includes a prominent selection from acclaimed breweries and distilleries. The addition of artisanal food, live music, and amazing auctions makes for a truly remarkable and unforgettable evening.

The funds raised at The Right Notes benefit ongoing MS research and support the more than 400 people living with MS in Atlantic and Cape May Counties through the Society’s MS Navigator Program. This program connects patients and caretakers with information, education, support, and resources to help navigate the challenges of living with MS. Over the past two years, the MS Society received more than 450 requests for information, financial assistance, and services from our community through the Navigator program.

If you are able to join The Right Notes in us for this year’s production of The Right Notes, please October 2019 stop and say hello. I would be honored to connect, and I’d be happy to provide some tips to guide you through the evening. It can be intimidating to enter a room with over 100 fabulous wines to taste (although I’d definitely categorize this as a good problem to have!), and I’ll be happy to share some of the insight I’ve learned over the years.

As a recap, here are the event details:

Date: Thursday, September 22 Time: 6:00 p.m. for VIP Admission; 7:00 p.m. for General Admission Location: Greate Bay Country Club, 901 Somers Point Mays Landing Road, Somers Point To purchase tickets or to make a donation, please visit www. NationalMSSociety.org/TheRightNotes

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your time and readership. Should you have any questions about The Right Notes, wine, or our South Jersey community, please feel free to email me any time at michael@passionvines.com.

In gratitude,

Two artists captured the ever-changing landscape of Atlantic City. Discover the connections made, and the memories preserved.

By Michael Cagno

Atlantic City is becoming a beacon for the arts in New Jersey. Murals are popping up across the urban scape, cultural institutions are charging forward forging an era of creativity.

The celebrated African American artist Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City in 1917 and known around the globe. However, Atlantic City has also fostered the careers of two other artists born in the early 1900s, Floretta Mostovoy and Attilio Sinagra.

Hailing from New York City, Jewish artist Floretta Schiff Mostovoy, born in 1919, began private art lessons at age eight and graduated high school with a degree in fashion illustration in the middle of the Great Depression.

After working as a fashion illustrator for an advertising agency for several years, Mostovoy met her husband Ira aboard a cruise ship. Together, the couple opened Captain Ira’s Bait and Tackle Shop, a fishing supply shop in the heart of Atlantic City’s Northside. Here Floretta continued freelance fashion sketches for local department stores while Ira worked on his photography.

While living in Atlantic City’s Northside, Floretta’s subjects were usually her neighbors. Her paintings remind viewers of the affinity between Blacks and Jews through their common heritage of oppression and shared fear of random violence. As a charter member of the now defunct Atlantic City

Clockwise from top: Bally's, Atlantic City by artist Attilio Sinagra; Jasper, Summer's End, and Untitled by artist Floretta Schiff Mostovoy

Art Center, her work focused on landscapes, figures, and still life’s in oils and pastels. In 1976, Floretta and Ira sold their Atlantic City business and moved to Philadelphia. There she continued creating at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts and the Philadelphia Sketch Club. Like many artists, Floretta traveled to Europe, Mexico, and around the East Coast painting and sketching. Towards the end of her career, Floretta focused more locally on her work in Philadelphia and Atlantic City.

Italian artist Attilio Sinagra was born in 1916 in Atlantic City. Sinagra completed a vast body of work throughout his life, ranging from book covers to internationally shown fine art. As an illustrator, Sinagra perfected the art of capturing the soul of his subjects. This gift, along with his appreciation for beauty, transferred over to all disciplines and bodies of work that Sinagra completed in his lifetime. Under the philosophies of Gerald Celente and Verdi, Sinagra focused much of his life on the redevelopment and Renaissance of Atlantic City. Acting as vice-chairman of the Atlantic City Art Commission, as well as through a series of personal artwork responding to the state of Atlantic City, Sinagra worked to bring Atlantic City back to its former glory.

Attilio Sinagra received his BFA in Illustration from Pratt Institute, studying under illustrators Nicholas F. Riley and Harvey Dunn. Sinagra worked as an advertising and publishing illustrator in New York for thirty-two years, during the peak of commercial illustration. Sinagra’s clients included prestigious corporations, publishers, studios, and advertising agencies. Sinagra was also a well-respected art teacher for more than sixteen years, where he taught at his alma mater, Pratt, as well as schools and colleges throughout

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