Seguin Sunrise Rotary Club to host Sweethearts Dinner, auction plus dance
(Seguin) — Not only will your Valentine’s Day weekend plans be covered, but the Seguin Sunrise Rotary Club is giving families a chance to make another hearty investment in some well-deserving students from Seguin and Navarro High Schools.
Tickets are still available for this year’s Scholarship Sweetheart Dinner and Dance. The fundraising event will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday at the Texas Agricultural Education & Heritage Center, better known as the Big Red Barn.
Sunrise Rotary member Dennis Clarkson says the party is an annual effort to have fun while raising some much-needed funds.
“February 11th and that’s a Saturday and you know what that is right before… Valentine’s day exactly and so that’s why we call it the Sweetheart Dance. So, you bring your sweetheart. You bring several sweethearts. We don’t have a problem with that, and you are going to be dancing and prancing and we’ve got all kinds of stuff going on. This jazz band is unbelievable out of Austin, and we’ve got dinner and we’ve got a silent auction. We’ve got it all going on that night and just come on out, bring the whole family and have fun. They’ll have a spot there for the little kids in the back and they can play their games and we are just going to have a great time,” said Clarkson.
Unveiling the events of that special evening is Rotary member Xavier Norton. Norton says this year’s events, especially the live music, will be unmatched.
“The Michael Hale Trio, they are actually one of the top-rated residencies for live music in Austin and they are actually the only jazz band on the list and so they are coming here to Seguin to give us an entire set. It’s going to be absolutely amazing. It’s something you don’t want to miss and as Dennis was saying, we are encouraging families to come because we do have childcare so moms and dance can just dance, grandmas and grandpas can dance. We really want families to come and experience this really great sound that you are going to hear,” said Norton.
Norton says folks will not only enjoy a delicious meal but also have an opportunity to walk away with a great prize.
“We actually have food being provided by Next Door Catering. We also have silent auction items provided by a lot of our small businesses here in Seguin. There’s a lot of businesses that are part of the Downtown Business Alliance that will be providing auction items for people to present. We will also be raising money for our Seguin and Navarro students so that’s going to be the biggest takeaway and then we also have some really great pictures being taken with Blue Horizon Media. Crossroads Church will be doing childcare. It’s just going to be really really great to see how our community comes together to support our Seguin and Navarro students,” said Norton.
Clarkson says the uniqueness behind its scholarship program is only one of the reasons why this event is heavily supported.
“We have two scholarships going on. We have merit scholarships, but we also have the Dream Scholars and what that was something that we came up with years ago and what that was was a scholarship that would go to a freshman. Yes, that’s what I said, a freshman in high school. People think we are crazy but the reason we did that was to keep those kids in school to graduate high school. That was the whole intent of it and so, we give it to them when they are a freshman, and they work through it, and they have to stay a good student. They have to stay a good citizen and then graduate and as the money grows over those four years, that’s what they end up getting from us to be able to go off and start off their career whatever it may be,” said Clarkson.
Tickets are $50 a person. Guests are encouraged to attend in their best red, black or white attire. Those wishing to purchase a table or tickets are asked to call 210-834-1240. A link for tickets can also be found on the Seguin Sunrise Rotary Club’s Facebook page. The Big Red Barn is located at 390 Cordova Road.