In fashion with a successful 2017 event and in the spirit of the former Holly Ball, the Auxiliary to United Hospital Center is hosting its second Winter Ball. The semiformal dinner/dance will be held Jan. 20 at the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center in Fairmont.

 

Catered by Muriale’s Restaurant and decorated to the hilt in festive seasonal style, the Winter Ball is a fun social event for people of all ages. And the brightest perk is that money raised will benefit the work of the volunteer-operated Auxiliary. Each year, proceeds are utilized for a different project or department of UHC. This year, Winter Ball Chair Mickey Petitto said event proceeds will be used to purchase a People Mover. The electric vehicle – complete with heating and cooling – will travel throughout UHC parking lots, transporting people to their UHC destination, such as the main entrance, the Cancer Center, Physicians’ Office Building and Orthopaedic & Spine Center.

 

After hosting the Holly Ball for over a half-century, the Auxiliary to UHC changed it up last year, holding the event after the holiday season rather than in the midst of it.

 

“We just decided to try something new,” said Denise Steffich, director of volunteer services for the Auxiliary to UHC, prior to last year’s event. “It’s still a ball with dancing and dinner, but we’re working on some new ideas to appeal to the younger crowd. We talked to people and they said that having the Holly Ball right before Christmas was so stressed.”

 

Steffich said in 2016 that she hoped the community would embrace the new twist on the traditional dinner/dance. Hosted by Co-Chairs Toma Courtney and Krysta Fazalare, the 2017 Winter Ball was a success and raised funds for the hospital’s obstetrics department for the care of neonatal abstinence syndrome babies.

  

Petitto and Virginia Rockwell are working with a local designer to create is an elegant, but approachable atmosphere. Providing dance music will be “Santa Cruz,” which has played the Holly Ball for several years, as well as at the Winter Ball debut. The band’s playlist features pop hits through the decades, as well as Disco and Motown and top 40 and swing tunes.  

 

The event gets under way at 6 p.m. with appetizers and a silent auction featuring many autographed sports memorabilia items, theme gift baskets and gift cards.  

 

Last year was a “trial run” for holding the holiday social in January and holding it at the Robert H. Mollohan Research Center in Fairmont. Now in its second year, the event is on its way to becoming a new tradition.

 

Cost to attend the dinner/dance – which runs 6-11 p.m. – is $100 per person. Deadline for reservations is Jan. 5. Reservations can be made at volunteeruhc.org/winterball. Table wine can be pre-ordered and photography services will be available.