Wine Around the Square, which benefits the Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation’s Power of Pink and its fight against breast cancer, returns to the Murfreesboro Public Square on Saturday, Oct. 26.

The popular annual progressive wine- and spirits-tasting event, set in various local businesses around the historic Square, kicks off with a VIP party at 4:30 p.m. with the main event starting at 6. Stones River Total Beverages once again provides a wide variety of wines and spirits for sampling throughout the evening. Included in the main event ticket, guests will receive dinner provided by The Alley on Main and Clay Pit.

Proceeds of the event go to support the Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation’s Power of Pink Fund, which provides mammography for underinsured and uninsured women in Rutherford County, including screenings, diagnostics, ultrasounds and MRIs. The Power of Pink Fund also supports two Mobile Mammography Coaches that serve 26 counties in Middle Tennessee as well as the Cancer Wellness Program at Ascension Saint Thomas Rutherford.

Now in its 13th year, Wine Around the Square continues to provide the greatest source of funding for the Power of Pink Fund.

“Serving on the committee of the Power of Pink Foundation has been an absolute joy to me these past three years,” says Betty Robinson. “As a three-year breast cancer survivor, I know the importance of mammograms and early detection of breast cancer. The POP Fund plays an integral part in helping women who are underinsured and uninsured get their yearly checkups.”

Over the past 15 years, the Saint Thomas Rutherford Foundation has raised over $2 million to benefit the Power of Pink. This support has funded over 24,000 mammograms and screenings, diagnostics, ultrasounds and MRI scans. Additionally, Power of Pink has provided rides to and from oncology appointments, offered patient education, supplied life-saving equipment to those facing the most challenging circumstances and distributed breast cancer education books to patients.

Ashley Holloway and Betty Robinson

“My journey with the hospital’s foundation began over 10 years ago, but it took on a new meaning four years ago when one of my best friends was diagnosed with breast cancer. Witnessing her strength and the challenges she faced inspired me to take on a more active role in fundraising with the Power of Pink golf tournament and Wine Around the Square,” says Ashley Holloway, who serves as a co-chair for this year’s Wine Around the Square VIP party. “I love seeing the community come together for such an important cause. It is fulfilling to know that our work is making a real difference, particularly those who mean so much to me.”

Each year the foundation selects honorees from among individuals in the community who are active in the fight against breast cancer. Dr. Nick and Adrienne Tarola have been named the honorees for the 2024 Wine Around the Square event.

When Dr. Nick Tarola came to Murfreesboro to establish Tarola Plastic Surgery, both he and his wife, Adrienne, jumped into involvement in the Murfreesboro community. After Nick completed a fellowship in plastic surgery at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, the Tarolas knew they wanted to raise their children in Middle Tennessee.

Dr. Tarola came to Murfreesboro in 2011 as a specialist in reconstruction surgery for breast cancer survivors following his training at Vanderbilt.

“As a plastic surgeon,” says Nick, “we get involved after the patient has already been given the cancer diagnosis, decided on a treatment plan, seen their breast surgeon, and they are contemplating breast reconstruction. At that point they come to us to hear about their options, and then we work with their breast surgeon to perform the cancer surgery and reconstruction.”

With a background in event planning and marketing, Adrienne began volunteering for Wine around the Square and Power of Pink almost as soon as the family got settled in the community.

“I started serving the wine,” explains Adrienne. “I worked in the Rosé Garden with Julia McKenna, and then I served on the planning committee for one year. That is the year we decided to make . . . big angel wings with the names of all of [the hospital’s] breast cancer survivors on them. I have served as chair for the VIP party the last two years.”

In 2012, Nick told Adrienne about the launch of Breast Reconstruction Awareness Day (BRA) by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, which falls on the third Wednesday in October. Created to promote education, awareness and access to reconstructive surgery for women interested in post-mastectomy reconstruction, the couple had the idea of creating an event that would promote both breast cancer and reconstructive surgery awareness while raising money for the cause. Ballroom BRA was born. The event would go on to raise more than $150,000 between 2014 and 2019.

“The first year we decided to do a small event at the office,” Nick says. “We had some of our breast reconstruction patients come in and we celebrated them.”

The next year, the Tarolas scaled up the event and launched Ballroom BRA.

“We started Ballroom BRA the year Dancing with the Stars was really taking off,” says Adrienne. “Originally, I had 10 contestants, five women and five men from the community, and then we made it bigger to get more people involved.”

The event featured local individuals paired with someone from an area dance studio to learn a dance in a competition, which took place at the Stones River Country Club, with most of the proceeds going to the Power of Pink.

The Ballroom BRA has not returned since 2019—Adrienne explains that it grew to be a massive undertaking, and with the addition of her store, Nashboro Chic, located across from her husband’s plastic surgery office, and her four children, her time has become limited. The Tarolas, however, remain involved with the Power of Pink and Wine Around the Square, as well as their own 501c3, Reconstructing for Life, which helps individuals pay for reconstructive surgery after an accident, illness or physically altering event. 

Find tickets for the Oct. 26 Wine Around the Square event, for $65, at give.stthomas.org/2024winearoundthesquare; for more information visit facebook.com/winearoundthesquare or rutherfordfoundation.org.