It may be the newest event on the coastal Delaware social scene, but the Winter Blues Ball is already one of the hottest tickets of the chilly winter season.
Organized by the Bethany-Fenwick Area Chamber of Commerce and presented by All States Construction Company Inc., the Winter Blues Ball will take place on Saturday, Jan. 20, between 6 and 10 p.m. It is the first formal event organized by the Chamber and proceeds will go to benefit the Chamber’s capital resource fund and the Quiet Resorts Charitable Foundation (QRCF), the charitable wing of the Chamber.
“We thought it would be a nice way to not only raise funds for the capital resource fund, to rebuild that, but a great way for everybody to get out after the rush of the holidays, when there’s not much going on in January, and just have a good time,” said Chamber Events Manager Amy Tingle.
“It’s going to be a great night of dinner and dancing,” added Tingle, who already helps organize the Chamber’s popular Caribbean Christmas event in December.
The Winter Blues Ball is set at Bear Trap Dunes and will feature life music provided by One Love, a dance band from Philadelphia,
Also on tap for the evening are both live and silent auctions.
“There are some great items,” Tingle said of the auction listings. “There’s a weekend stay on the riverfront in Wilmington, some golf packages, a night out on the town complete with limo service… There are some great items to bid on.”
Some of those other items include a selection of artwork by local artists, a dinner for six in the winner’s home prepared by Dana Banks of The Parkway restaurant, and two surfboards complete with lessons courtesy of Bethany Surf Shop.
Tingle noted that ticket sales have already been brisk, with only a limited number — fewer than 50 — remaining as of Wednesday for the black-tie-optional event. Tickets cost $125 in advance. (For more information on the evening, or to purchase tickets, visit the Web site at winterbluesball.com or contact Tingle at (302) 539-2100, ext. 15.)
Some 25 percent of proceeds from the evening will go to the QRCF, which provides scholarships to local students, among other chartable works. The Chamber’s capital resource fund, depleted after its recent office renovations, will benefit from the remaining proceeds from the event.
The live auction is sponsored by Mercantile Peninsula Bank. Additional sponsors for the event include Carl M. Freeman Communities and Uncle Sugar’s Moving Company.