| United Way hosting events to meet goal | | Posted: Friday, November 9, 2012 11:36 pm
| By KEVIN BOWDEN
Staff Reporter
New Year’s Eve revelers will have the chance to ring in the new year in style, while also helping the United Way of Obion County.
Tickets are now available for New Year’s Obion County: A Night to Give Back.
The New Year’s Eve party will begin with a cocktail hour at 8 p.m. on Dec. 31 and the party will begin at 9 in the Hampton Centré off West Reelfoot Avenue. Tickets are $50 per person, with all the proceeds from the party to benefit the local United Way.
Tickets are available at the ATA accounting firm at the corner of Reelfoot Avenue and South Home Street, as well as at Suedell’s in downtown Union City.
This is the first time the local United Way agency has hosted such an event, and expectations are high that it will be successful in helping raise money for the organization.
The Hampton Centré will be decked out for the night and there will be hor d’oeuvres available all night.
The New Year’s Eve gala is the brainchild of United Way officer Lesley Anderson, who said she wanted to celebrate the holiday locally and she believed others would also be interested in a local New Year’s Eve party.
Aaron Jowers of Union City, who goes by the title DJ Egor, will provide the music for the New Year’s Eve gala.
The local United Way board has enthusiastically supported the project and expects to sell 200 tickets for the event.
The New Year’s Eve party is one of several events the United Way is involved in this fall, during the agency’s fundraising blitz.
Recently, the local United Way raised more than $1,200 during its Jeans Day for United Way, according to United Way executive director Michelle Creswell. She reported the success of the event at the United Way’s November board meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Coming up this Saturday is a United Way skeet shoot at Quail Haven, located off Reese Alexander Road. Already 10 two-man teams have signed up for the skeet shoot and organizers are hoping for 10 more teams. Each team is paying a $75 entry fee for the event and cash prizes will be awarded to the top three teams. One of the most sought-after prizes will be four tickets to the Dec. 16 Minnesota Vikings-St. Louis Rams football game.
Like the New Year’s Eve party, this is the first time the United Way has sponsored a skeet shoot. It is expected the event will raise more than $2,000.
There is still time to sign up for the skeet shoot by calling Kurt Baggett at 225-9216 or Kyle Baggett at 446-6191.
This fall the United Way is also promoting its payroll deduction program to businesses and industries in Obion County.
The local United Way board has set a fundraising goal of $75,000 this year and has already raised $20,000. The money raised by the United Way is distributed to various community agencies.
There are oversized thermometers for the United Way fundraising campaign set up in front of Walmart, in downtown Union City’s Merchants Park and at South Home Street and East Reelfoot Avenue.
For more information about the United Way of Obion County or to make a donation, contact Mrs. Creswell at 446-2891.
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Staff Reporter Kevin Bowden may be contacted by email at kmbowden@ucmessenger.com. Published in The Messenger 11.9.12 | | | | |
