Rescheduled Blue Jean Ball set for Friday
Jan. 10—Planning a large-scale fundraiser is no easy task — just ask Jennifer Fussell.
As the chair of the Humane Society of South Coastal Georgia's Blue Jean Ball, she and her fellow organizers worked for months to bring the November soiree together. Then came Tropical Storm Nicole.
While the system itself wasn't as damaging as it could have been, they were still compelled to postpone the event.
"The storm was coming through, and we just didn't know how bad it was going to be. It turned out to be a non-issue, but we were worried about flooding. And we didn't want our vendors, who were travelling from all over, to have to drive through it," she said.
"We just didn't know and decided it wasn't worth risking it, so we decided to postpone it."
The new date they selected was Jan. 13. While it is a Friday the 13th, they lucked out — all of the major players were still able to participate.
"The venue, Forbes Farm, was still available. The band was still available and the vendors," she said.
That means the party is on. It will be held from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday at Forbes Farm on St. Simons Island. Tickets purchased for the original date will be honored. A few extras are also still available. Those are $160 per person and may be purchased hsscg.org/ blue-jean-ball.
"We have some still available. All the tickets and the sponsorships from the first date will be honored. All they have to do is show up," she said.
Party-goers should park at Wesley United Methodist Church, 6520 Frederica Road, St. Simons Island. They will be shuttled to the location where they will find food, drinks, a marketplace, a live auction and live music.
"We have a vendors coming from wide and far with all sorts of things. We have the Kinchafoonee Cowboys who will be playing," she said. "We have some really great auction items like a trip to Telluride and Big Sky. There are a lot of really fun items."
While the evening will be a fun and casual affair — blue jeans and cowboy hats being the dress code — the purpose goes much deeper. All of the funds raised will go toward the nonprofit's mission of finding animals loving homes.
"The humane society not only takes on local animals but also do emergency pulls from shelters outside the area too. We also pay for the spay and neutering of animals. Some animals need surgeries and we have vets onsite," she said.
"It requires a lot to maintain all of these little fur babies. Thankfully, we have our thrift store, the Big Flea, which is open again after a fire there. But this is our biggest fundraiser and we really count of these funds for the mission."
