ANNA MARIA – Four times Carol Whitmore has won the prized jewelry raffle at the annual Community Center’s Affaire to Remember, and three of those times, she has given the jewelry away.

This year, Whitmore won the gold, amethyst and diamond ring valued at $5,000 and donated by Bridge Street Jewelers. She then gave it to Angela Romanski, who manned the raffle table throughout the event.

“I felt guilty when I won it,” Whitmore said. “Angela really wanted it, and she stood at the table all night, so I gave it to her.”

Romanski said when she was invited by Steve Bark to attend the Affaire, her first thought was finding a dress to wear and recalled, “As the Affaire drew closer, I read in the Sun that one of the donated items was an amethyst, diamond and yellow gold ring.

“If anyone knows one thing about me, it’s that purple is my favorite color and what woman doesn’t like diamonds? I thought to myself, ‘I want that ring.’”

When Whitmore won the ring, Romanski said, “Oh well, a girl can dream can’t she?” She also remarked jokingly to Whitmore as she was exiting the event, “I can’t believe you won that ring; that was my ring.”

The next Tuesday, Romanski was sitting in her office at Bark and Company Realty when Whitmore came in and spoke to Bark, who then called Romanski out to the reception area and said, “Carol has something for you.”

“She handed me the box with the ring and said, ‘I want you to have this. I’ll never wear it; it’s not me. You wanted it so bad, so please take it.’”

Romanski said she couldn’t accept the ring, and asked why Whitmore did not give it back to the Community Center or sell it and Whitmore replied, “No, I really want you to have it.”

Nearly a month later, Romanski said she is still in shock over the gift and said, “How do you thank someone for such a generous gift? It was truly an Affaire to Remember and in the end, my dream did come true, thanks to Carol Whitmore.”