Published: May 15, 2008 10:44 pm         

Out on the town!

Celebrity Night celebrating 20 years of success

As executive director of the Women’s Resource Center 20 years ago, Debbie Short needed to find a major fundraiser for the nonprofit organization. It needed to be something fun, and it needed to bring in a substantial amount of money.

Who could have guessed a member of a regional Pinochle Club would give Short the winning hand?

“The club was meeting in Beckley, and I was talking with some of their members about fundraising,” Short recalls. “I was looking for something different that hadn’t been done here. They told me about this ‘celebrity night’ they had been using, and it sounded like a great idea.”

Short mentioned the idea to her board, and enthusiasm grew rapidly. The Pinochle Club members sent Short a handbook detailing every phase of the planning of such an event.

The first Celebrity Night enlisted the help of Tiki Garden, The Char, The Brass Lantern and Pasquale’s. With about 40 volunteers, they raised about $6,000.

“We were thrilled to bring in that much money from one event,” Short said. “And the best thing about it was everyone had so much fun. We knew we could probably use this as an annual event for a long time to come.”

Judy Lilly Harrah, who served on the board when the first Celebrity Night was held, said the event has continued to gain support every year.

“This is an event people have come to look forward to,” she said. “It generates a lot of excitement. Local celebrities enjoy participating, so we get more volunteers every year. We are really pleased it has been — and continues to be — such a successful event.”

The fundraiser now brings in more than $10,000 each year, and organizers say they have raised the goal to $20,000 this year to correspond with a celebration of Celebrity Night’s 20th anniversary.

“We think that’s a realistic goal,” said Virginia Butcher, chairwoman of the event. “There’s already so much excitement and support for Celebrity Night we don’t think it will be hard to raise money for such a good cause.”

The WRC and the United Way of Southern West Virginia teamed up a few years ago to co-sponsor Celebrity Night. This year’s event will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, May 22, at Applebee’s, Black Knight Country Club, Foster’s, Garfield’s, Macado’s, Maxwell’s, Psaquale Mira’s and Texas Steakhouse.

Every year, WOAY-TV has been a major sponsor for Celebrity Night, United Way director Linda Lugar said. “They have been a real backbone in this effort, and that continued support has helped make this the successful event it’s become,” Lugar said.

Money raised from Celebrity Night goes to support programs and services offered by the two agencies.

— E-mail: bdavis@register-herald.com