Paul Bass Photo
Tyisha Walker pinned a corsage on her daughter Tenaiya Baker — and prepared her to assume center stage.
Baker, a 19-year-old aspiring prosecutor who attends Quinnipiac University, was preparing to serve as master of ceremonies Thursday night for the annual fall gala of the Black and Hispanic Caucus of the Board of Alders — the legislative body on which her mom became the first-ever female president this year.
The $75-a-ticket-affair gala took place at Morris Cove’s Anthony’s Ocean View. It was packed: organizer Jeanette Morrison, a Dixwell alder, said around 500 tickets were sold. The gala, in its fourth year, has grown in scale along with the growth of the caucus itself, which now includes 20 of the board’s 30 members. Money raised at the annual affair has flowed to dozens of charitable organizations focused on seniors and kids, from Casa Otonal and senior centers around town to the Nation and Fusion Drill Team.
The evening’s keynote speaker, New York Mayor Bill DiBlasio, canceled because he’s scheduled to leave for a trip to Israel Friday morning. U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal filled in for him. First Blumenthal made the rounds of the room, including a chat and photo op with Kadir Catalbasoglu, owner of Elm Street’s popular Pizza at the Brick Oven, and his son, a Yale freshman. (Click here to read an inspiring story about them in the Register.)
The gala honored as hometown heroes state Banking Commissioner Jorge Perez, who previously served as president of the Board of Alders …
… State Senate President Martin Looney (pictured with campaign consultant Christine Bartlett-Josie) …
… New Haven public schools Director of Instruction and former principal Iline Tracey … and the Connecticut Center for Arts and Technology (ConnCAT).
The table next to Tracey’s was filled with some of the women who make Clinton Avenue School tick.
High-powered schmoozing was observed all evening among bold-face political names like Beaver Hills Alder Brian Wingate and Democratic ward Co-Chair Audrey Tyson …
… Board of Ed candidate Edward Joyner and Morris Cove Alder Sal DeCola …
… Ward 26 Democratic Co-Chair Sharon Jones and Probate Judge Jack Keyes …
… and Varick Memorial AME Zion’s Rev. Eldren Morrison, UNH’s Bill Carbone, fire union President Jimmy Kottage, and Fire Captain Garry Tinney …
… while the Herman Ham Group kept the beat and the good vibes going.