All that Jazz mixes meal and music to raise money
Event a fundraiser for Conway Symphony Orchestra
CONWAY — An evening of live music, food and items up for bid will be on tap as the Conway Symphony Orchestra Guild presents All That Jazz at the Southwestern Energy Co. headquarters at The Village at Hendrix. The event will be held from 6-9:30 p.m. Thursday. Tickets are $40 per person in advance or $50 at the door. Advance tickets are available from any CSO board or guild member, and at Fletcher Smith’s Jewelers, 1105 Oak St., or online at www.conwaysymphony orchestra.org.
The Shannon Boshears Band of Little Rock will provide the music which will feature soul, blues and rock. Band members include Boshears, vocals and guitar; Walter K (Keith W. Smith), lead guitar and vocals; Lori Stidham, bass guitar and vocals; and Charlie Macom, drums. The band has recorded two CDs:
Black Mascara and Chicksinger.
Beverley Freiley, guild vice president, said the Hole in the Wall Café will cater “hand-passed dinner courses” for the meal.
Partygoers will have the chance to bid on a number of items in both live and silent auctions.
Patsy Desaulniers, guild treasurer, said Philip Shell of Conway will serve as auctioneer for the live auction.
Among the fe atured items in the live auction are a 14-karat gold necklace/ locket with rough-cut diamonds valued at $1,250 from Fletcher Smith’s Jewelers, a $1,200 gift certificate from EM Jeans, and a wrap with fur trim valued at $395 from Fletcher and Bensky Fine Fur Collections of Little Rock.
Other items in the live auction include a framed oil painting of roses by New York artist Walter Lynn Mosley, donated by the artist and the Art Students League of Manhattan; a “low country” dinner donated by Joyce Miller and Nancy Jackson; a jambalaya dinner for 20 donated by Allison Vetter and Will Cone; four new tires donated by Smith Ford; and a watercolor by Conway artist Sheila Parsons, framed by Joann Huselton of Pictures Et Cetera Fine Art Gallery.
Silent-auction items include gift certificates for a variety of products, including food and restaurant visits, doctor and dentist packages, golf packages, college brand items, beauty and health spa packages and pet packages.
“Our merchants have been extra generous this year,” Freiley said.
“All proceeds will support the orchestra’s musical and educational activities and programs,” said Mary Mosley, guild president. “The guild does not keep any of the funds. The guild’s only purpose is raising funds.”
Mosley said this is the second time the guild has presented an All That Jazz event.
“We alternate it with other fundraisers,” she said, adding that last year’s fundraiser was the sponsorship of two designer houses in Turnberry Place.
Upcoming events supported by the guild include the annual Nutcracker Sweets, which will be held from 6-7 p.m. Dec. 7 before the Christmas concert, Tinsel and Tutus, and the organization of free children’s crafts for the CSO Children’s Concert, Peter and the Wolf, set for 2 p.m. March 15. Both concerts will be presented at the Donald W. Reynolds Performance Hall at the University of Central Arkansas.
In addition to Mosley, Freiley and Desaulniers, other members of the All That Jazz planning committee are Kelly Bullington, guild fundraising chairman; Caroline Morgan, guild community liaison; Linda Briggler, guild secretary; and Kelly Coffman, guild member. Other guild members are also helping with the event.
Mosley said the guild is always looking for new members. Membership fees are $30. For more information, visit www.conwaysymphony orchestra.org.