From a Person of the Year award to live music and dancing, the Celebration of Hope sponsored by Hearts of Hope will have something for everybody.
The event is set for Aug. 25 at the Columbia Country Club, and organizer Carlton Thornhill says tickets are now available.
He said formal events, such as the Celebration of Hope, will fill a void for something that has been missing in Marion County.
“This one on Aug. 25 will just be a dressy affair, whatever everybody is comfortable in,” Thornhill said. “We’re having a meal that is different. It’s not a buffet. It will be plated pretty and will be something that people will love to have served to them.”
A social hour will be from 6 p.m. until 7 followed by the dinner from 7 to 8 and the presentation and acknowledgements from 8 to 8:30. After that the dance floor will be open as Soutbound, a new band made up of locals Lisa Disbrow, Crystal Browning, Brooklyn McKenzie and Jeff Blackard, performs. There will be a cash bar.
“The program will have a retrospective of what Hearts of Hope has done and what the people of Marion County have done,” Thornhill said. “We’ll go back to the tornado. We’ll go back to all of the things with a PowerPoint. I want to pay special attention to the Junior Auxiliary and the work that they’ve done and then we will give our Person of the Year award.
The tornado-tattered flag, Stars and Stripes of Hope, will also be on display, and attendees will have the opportunity to put in a stitch.
Tickets are $25 in advance and available at Zellco and the Flower Shop on Church Street. They’ll be $30 at the door.
Also, Thornhill plans to start an annual formal event in February on the Saturday before Valentine’s Day called the “Sweethearts of Hope Gala.” He plans to include a “Best of Marion County” awards program.
“We’re trying to bring formal events back so we can have a dress-up night. We’ll have a very nice dinner,” he said. “So we can have something nice to do and so that the wonderful, beautiful ladies of Marion County have an excuse to dress up.”
He said every dollar Hearts of Hope gets goes out for its work providing aid and encouragement to victims and communities following disasters. Thornhill formed it following the 2014 Columbia tornado.
