Ocean House To Host Black & White Ball For Hurricane Sandy Relief
Thursday, January 31, 2013
The Ocean House will host a Black and White Masquerade gala in February to benefit the post-Hurricane-Sandy rebuilding of neighboring Misquamicut Beach. Mirroring Truman Capote’s 1966 Black and White Masquerade—known as the party of 20th Century—the event is poised to be the party of the season, and will serve as a key fundraiser for Misquamicut.
The Black and White Masquerade
The Black and White Masquerade will feature fine black and white cuisine, cocktails, live music by High Defintion, wine donated by nearby Jonathan Edwards Winery, beer donated by Cottrell Brewing, and a specially created “Bring Back the Beach” blonde ale from Westerly’s Grey Sail Brewing. Along with ticket proceeds, the evening’s live and silent auctions—featuring everything from luxury vacation getaways and coveted tickets to national sporting events and fine jewelry—will entirely benefit the Jump Start Small Business Recovery Grant Fund, which provides Misquamicut businesses with grants to help them rebuild in time for the summer 2013 season.
A local treasure deeply damaged
Misquamicut, a favorite summer playground for the region and a key to Rhode Island tourism revenue, suffered New England’s worst Hurricane Sandy destruction. Hurricane Sandy caused an estimated $14 million in damages to this community, comprised entirely of small, locally owned businesses. The Jump Start Small Business Recovery Grant Fund was established by the Greater Westerly Chamber Foundation to help those businesses in their rebuilding efforts and the Black and White Masquerade event will serve as the Fund’s primary fundraiser before the 2013 summer season.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“Hurricane Sandy ripped apart Misquamicut Beach in October, but it brought together our greater Westerly community. The Ocean House has blown us away in putting together this amazing event that will both be the social event of the season, and will serve as our Foundation’s largest fundraiser,” says Lisa Konicki, executive director of the Greater Westerly Chamber of Commerce. “The success of this event is critical to providing much-needed grants to Misquamicut’s small businesses and ensuring that our beloved seaside community is back and better than ever for the 2013 season.”
Reviving the greatest party of the century
In an effort to create a magical evening that will maximize proceeds for the Jump Start Small Business Recovery Grant Fund, the Ocean House is painstakingly recreating Truman Capote’s Black and White event. The entire Black and White Masquerade is based on Deborah Davis’s acclaimed and detailed book about Capote’s event: “The Party of the Century”, and Davis is expected to attend at the event.
“This is a very important event for us here at the Ocean House,” said Daniel Hostettler, President and Managing Director of the Ocean House. “It is a way for us to support and aid the local businesses and fellow hoteliers who suffered so much loss during Hurricane Sandy. We were extremely fortunate to have minimal damage to our property, so when we got the call from the Greater Westerly Chamber of Commerce to partner with them to raise money we did not hesitate. Helping and supporting our local community is important to our staff and is part of our culture.”
The Black and White Masquerade is Feb. 23, 2013 at the Ocean House in Watch Hill, RI from 7 p.m. until 11 p.m. Tickets, which are tax deductible, are $125. Attendance is limited to 500 and tickets are available exclusively online here.
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