(Seguin) – Women are encouraged to put themselves first for an evening of networking, friendship, and fun during this Friday’s second annual Galentines Cocktail Social. After a successful event last year, local businesswoman Denise Leos has organized yet another gathering at the Soel Venue located in downtown Seguin.
Leos says for years, she always met with her own girlfriends for their own Galentines get together. Then after her and husband, Freddy, began embarking in new businesses in Seguin, Leos says she wanted to learn even more about Seguin and get to know the women in this community. That’s when she said the vision for the Galentine’s Cocktail Social was spirited.
In launching the event, Leos says she wanted something to applaud, inspire and encourage women.
“Nobody knows each story behind anybody else, so I felt that it was good to get people together to know ‘hey, I’m not alone. Wow, she’s been through it too’ because sometimes you know, we are our worst critic and we hurt our own selves just thinking things that people may be thinking about us but in reality, they are not so I just felt that it was great to get a bunch of women together and you know just uplift one another and push each other to take that new step that they want to take or are afraid of taking or maybe, there is somebody who they are going to meet there that is on the path that they want to be on and they can get some answers from them,” said Leos.
Just as important of bringing women together, Leos says she wanted their gathering to have an impact in the community. Last year’s proceeds went to the Guadalupe Valley Family Violence Shelter. This year, proceeds will benefit Seguin’s food pantry, the Christian Cupboard.
Leos says she was inspired to name the Christian Cupboard as the beneficiary after volunteering her own time at the New Braunfels Food Bank. As she and her husband continue to operate businesses in Seguin like the Soel Venue and The Backyard, she believes it’s important to also seek out those worthy charities.
“Right now, the times (the way that they are), people are not working, or we go through these weather (freezes) and people can’t get to the things that they need and it’s simple stuff, cereal, canned items — anything helps so we chose the Christian Cupboard and I’m super excited,” said Leos.
Leos says Friday night’s event will also feature a pair of guest speakers. They include Regina Lee, of the Christian Cupboard as well as Leos’ special friend Selina Medina who she credits for her volunteerism at the food bank. Plus, she says Medina is an advocate of women supporting women.
Leos says the fun will continue following the presentations with some great food and dueling piano entertainment being provided by The Flying Ivories.
“Tickets are $30. With that ticket – actually Court Street Coffee is back again with their ‘amazingness’ that they do. They are going to be doing a Charcuterie spread like they did last year. It was a huge hit and I’m just ecstatic that they offered to come back and do it again this year. The Sweet Stop has donated some sweets for us. Yoli’s (Mexican Restaurant) donated a salsa bar and I’m bringing back the sushi. The sushi was a great hit last year so I’m definitely bringing that back and that’s from A Tan. We will have soft drinks that are non-alcohol so we will have tea and water and we will have the bar open and we will be selling cocktails if people want to purchase that on their own,” said Leos.
Leos says tickets to the event are available online and can be purchased up until the event. A link for those tickets can be found on the Soel Venue Facebook page.
VIP tables for eight which includes two champagne bottles are also available for $500. Helping Leos coordinate this year’s efforts are Molly Rojas; Raven Garza, Selina Medina and Kim Rodriguez.
The Galentines Cocktail Social begins at 7:10 p.m. Friday at Soel Venue. Soel Venue is located at 112 W. Donegan St.