Get
Ready to Party: The Denim & Diamonds Gala Returning After a
Four-Year Hiatus!
Wellington, Florida September 15, 2003 At the urging
of equestrians everywhere, the hottest party in Palm Beach County
is being resurrected after a four-year hiatus. The party?: The Denim
& Diamonds Gala, last held during The 2000 Winter Equestrian
Festival in Wellington. Producers and Chairmen, Mason Phelps, Jr.
and Beverly Lake Wilkes, who ran Denim & Diamonds each year
from the mid- 90s through 2000, and who will run the 2004
event, have been inundated over the past few years with a chorus
of requests to bring back the extravaganza.
And
now, The United States Equestrian Team (the USET) has
weighed in with its opinion lets party! The USET, historically
the beneficiary of Denim & Diamonds, will once again be the
2004 beneficiary. During the events successful, prior six-year
run, over $1 million was raised for the USET. With the upcoming
2004 Olympic Games in the offing, the timing is ideal to bring back
this major fund-raiser.
Denim & Diamonds will take place during the height of The 2004
Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, which is the most prominent
horseshow in the U. S., attracting over 4,000 horses and 6,000 people
to Palm Beach County during its eight-week run. All of the Olympic
hopefuls and other top equestrians will be in Wellington to compete.
Denim
& Diamonds will be held on Sunday, February 15, 2004, beginning
at 6:30 pm, at The South Florida Expo Center located at The South
Florida Fairgrounds in West Palm Beach. With over 2,000 partiers
expected to attend, The Expo Center provides the requisite space,
parking and facilities to handle such a major event.
The 2004 theme will be Denim & Diamonds: Back to the Future,
brought to life by event-planner extraordinaire Bruce Sutka. Sutka
has orchestrated all prior Denim & Diamonds, with themes ranging
from circus and sideshow, complete with elephants, to New York City
70s disco to the Wild West. Back to the Future
will lead the partiers on a journey through prior Olympic cities,
such as Paris and Sydney, with area cuisine and décor, plus
performers in ethnic costume. After visiting these venues, the journey
will end in the main ballroom, which will be transformed into a
replica of Athens.
As for entertainment, that is still in the works. But, if the past
indicates the future, top groups will certainly be on that Athens
stage. Having had the likes of Donna Summer, The Village People,
The Pointer Sisters and Blood Sweat & Tears perform in prior
years, Denim & Diamonds will most certainly have the same quality
of entertainers.
In keeping with Denim & Diamonds tradition, there will
also be a high-end silent auction as well as the usually hilarious
auction of riding lessons with some of the most well-known equestrians
in the U. S.
The Vice-Chairmen of Denim & Diamonds: Back to the Future
are respected figures in the equestrian community: Janice Aron,
Joannie Goodman and Frances Lindner -- hunters/jumpers; Mary Anne
McPhail and Norman Peslar dressage; Tim Gannon and John Goodman
-- polo.
Ticket prices will be $300 each, with VIP tables at $5,000, $10,000
and $25,000.
For further information, contact Mason Phelps, Jr. or Beverly Lake
Wilkes of Phelps Wilkes & Associates, Inc. at (561) 753-3389
or at info@phelpswilkes.com.
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