Lucas Hoge headlines Jeans & Bling
The Jeans & Bling fundraiser for Hospice of Texarkana strives, year after year, to bring interesting entertainment to the mix, and this year it’s a lip sync battle with a new twist.
With its Sing at the Bling: Battle of the Hair Salons portion of the night, Jeans & Bling will pit local hair salons against each other— hairbrushes in hand. That’s just one of the entertaining aspects of this event held Saturday, Oct. 14, at the Texarkana Convention Center, start time at 7 p.m.
The night’s music headliner is up-and-coming country singer Lucas Hoge, whose videos have played on CMT. He’s also been tapped as a brand ambassador for Cabela’s, along with Luke Bryan and Justin Moore. His experience includes playing for troops during the Wrangler National Patriot Tour.
“Dirty South,” Hoge’s debut album, has found chart success. Watchers of the Animal Planet TV series “Last Chance Highway” may recognize him; he served as host of the show.
Stefanie Brazile, director of development and public relations for Hospice of Texarkana, said she thinks they’re catching Hoge at a “magical point” in his career. Hospice wanted to have a country and western theme for this year’s event and sought someone who’s both talented and can draw a crowd, and she said they’re proud of his patriotism.
And the hair salons? That’s a new lip sync twist after last year’s battle of local celebrities performed at Jeans & Bling. Its popularity inspired Hospice of Texarkana to bring it back, hairdressers “singing” into their tools of the trade.
“They’re going to hold hairbrushes as their microphones,” Brazile said. Competing hair salons include A Cut Above, Joey’s Salon and TC Cosmetology.
In the past, the event’s additional entertainment has included competitions for couples dancing and cake decorating. Also, the theme has varied through the years. In recent years, “Dancing with the Stars” dancers have performed.
“This is our eighth year, so every couple years we change up the theme of our event to keep it fresh for our guests,” Brazile said.
Last year’s lip sync champ Matt Graves will return for this year’s festivities to perform and to emcee the event. He won with songs like “Ice Ice Baby” and Adele’s “Hello.”
In addition to Hoge’s performance and the lip syncing hairdressers, Jeans & Bling has a silent auction and various games. For dinner, a Texas barbecue buffet will be served. Raffle prizes include a Branson condo package and $1,000 in gift cards from 20 restaurants in the area.
Funds raised will be used to pay down the note for the agency’s Hospice of Texarkana Care Center, which opened in June of last year.
“This is for such an important cause,” Brazile said. The Junior League of Texarkana founded Hospice of Texarkana 32 years ago and has, through the years, helped thousands of patients. Now it has a care center located at 2407 Galleria Oaks Drive. This was a longtime goal realized for the non-profit agency.
That project totaled $5.2 million. Hospice of Texarkana is seeking $2 million to pay off the note for the center. So far, Jeans & Bling events have raised $328,000.
“This is our only event fundraiser for 2017 and we invite everyone who has been touched by hospice to support us by attending the event, buying a raffle ticket or making a donation online or by email,” Brazile said.
(Tickets: $60. Purchase tickets by calling 903-794-4263 or by visiting HospiceOfTexarkana.org.)