This weekend, Jim and I went to the Platinum Promises Gala held in the Jacksonville Municipal Stadium. As we headed downtown Saturday night, I was really excited. Of course I love a dinner/dancing/ silent auction fundraiser, but I was also very psyched to see the Stadium -- I'd never been. Even more than that, I was looking forward to checking out the Stadium's "Touchdown Club" which is a posh meeting space in the stadium.
I thought the "Touchdown Club" would be a room. It was actually a six floor building that was part of the stadium! The "Touchdown Club" building took up the middle of the front of the stadium, and the entire front wall was made of floor-to-ceiling glass windows. As we parked and approached the stadium, we marvelled at how awesome it looked lit up at night.
We walked through the glass doors on the first floor and approached the check in desk. After we were checked in and handed 2 drink tickets each, we were directed to the elevators and instructed to head up to the fourth floor. As we entered the elevator, we bumped into a striking couple. The woman wore a disco ball necklace and a one piece black halter top bell-bottom suit. The man wore a bright floral polyester shirt and a peace sign necklace. The theme of the gala was "70s" (in case you haven't already guessed). As we ascended to the fourth floor, the man "strutted" around the elevator, doing a pretty good impression of the Bee Gees. "It's all in the walk," crooned, "I'm stayin' alive!"
"Ugh, this date just went from bad to worse!" the woman groaned as we all walked off the elevator laughing.
The fourth level of the touchdown club was this amazing carpeted room with a huge beautiful square shaped marble topped full service bar in the center. Like all of the floors of the Touchdown Club, the front wall was nothing but windows and offered a gorgeous view of the Jacksonville skyline all lit up at night. The back wall was lined with doors that led out to the stadium seating. Situated along the other walls were various snack bars. A stage and dance floor were set up for the evening with a glittering disco ball overhead. Also set up for the evening were about 20 dinner tables with white tablecloths, and cute disco ball centerpieces. Along the sides of the party area buffet tables were set up with amazing smelling beef, chicken and seafood.
Jim and I were pretty hungry, so we found an empty table, set down our stuff, and headed over to the buffet tables. The goodies set out for us to help ourselves to included grilled salmon, roasted garlic braised chicken, grilled asparagus, mashed potatoes, salad with blue cheese, and a carving table with melt-in-your-mouth prime rib. Jim and I heaped tons of food onto our plates and headed back over to our table to dig in.
While we were eating dinner, I glanced around the room. The crowd was a good mix of older and younger people. Many people appeared to know each other, and I spotted couples as well as singles. Everyone seemed to be really into the theme, and I was quite impressed with the array of outfits I saw. Many men wore Afro wigs, and women wore short tight polyester dresses and white boots.
While we were eating, a really nice lady named Sue Goebertus sat down next to us and started chatting with me. "So," she asked me, "How are you connected to the charity?" I explained all about "Out and About in Jax" and she seemed very interested. Then we talked a little about the DOSA Camps, which was the charity that the gala was raising funds for.
DOSA stands for Diocese of St. Augustine and the camps are a part of the Ministry for Persons With Disabilities in the Diocese (read: district) of St. Augustine. There are three camps included in the DOSA camps: Camp I Am Special, Camp Promise and Camp Care. Each camp is a week long summer camp (Held between May 20-July 23rd) for children and young adults faced with developmental disabilities. Many campers are paired up with a "buddy" which is a high school or college student volunteer. The camps touch so many lives, bringing joy and confidence to the campers and a life changing experience to the volunteers and buddies (some 340 campers and 240 volunteer buddies last year), while also providing some rest for the usual care givers of the campers. To read more about the camps or to apply to be a buddy, a volunteer or a camper, check out http://www.dosacamps.com/
As if to illustrate what we were talking about, as Sue and I chatted, I glanced around at the flat screen TVs that were situated along all the walls in the room. A slide show of campers and their buddies at camp played on the screens. The campers and volunteers just looked so happy. I was touched that so many people had turned out to help support such an awesome cause.
"Have you ever heard of Hands On Jacksonville?" Sue asked me, changing the subject a little. She went on to explain that Hands On Jacksonville is a great organization that pairs up volunteers with projects that need them. ( http://www.handsonjacksonville.com/ ) Once someone registers on the site, they can search for and view hundreds of volunteer opportunities in Northeast Florida, and even sign up for a particular opportunity. People can sign up as individuals and form teams. It sounded very interesting, and since one of my New Year's Resolutions is to get more involved in volunteering, I definitely made a note to get myself registered on the site as soon as possible.
While Sue and I were talking, we were served a yummy blueberry cobbler for dessert with an amazing granola and whipped cream topping. After dessert, Jim and I excused ourselves and headed over to the bar to trade in our drink tickets for a couple of drinks. While we sipped our drinks, we strolled over to the silent auction tables. The silent auction at this particular event was somewhat small, but still had some pretty cool items. One of them was a rosary made in the Church of All Nations which is in the Garden of Gethsemane. The bid for the rosary was already up to $50 and it was still relatively early in the evening.
I also spotted some Gucci sunglasses and the bidding had already gotten up to $260! I saw several facials and massages for bid, as well as a few gift certificates for dinners out. One interesting item was for a one hour in-home massage by Greg Mc Daniel.
After checking out the silent auction, I headed toward the elevator. Jim was confused as he followed. "Where are we going?" he asked me, "Are we leaving already? Did you forget something in the car?"
"No, I said," a little mischief in my eyes, "We're in the Touchdown Club.. we need to have a look around."
"Are we allowed to?" Jim asked nervously.
"Of course we are, I'm a member of the press, right?"
"Not exactly," Jim snorted. First we checked out the second floor, which was also called the Concierge floor. The level housed a snack bar called "Sweet Victory", among other snack bars and gift shops. From the second floor, I headed out one of the doors into the main seating area of the stadium. The night was cool and breezy, and there was something so mesmerizing about the huge stadium glowing in the moonlight. It was a little unsettling just how quiet it was, especially considering how loud the place probably gets on game day. The seats and floors were very clean and everything looked well cared for. I liked the teal color of the seats and walls.
After checking out the main seating area of the stadium, we headed up to the 5th and 6th floors which were basically long hallways filled with doors that led out to sky boxes. Each door had a label like "First Coast News" or "Haskell", or "Defensive Coordinator". "Which one is the defensive coordinator?" I asked Jim, "Is he the one that makes sure all the players' outfits match?" Jim just answered with an exaggerated sigh. So I asked another question. "How rich do you have to be to have one of these sky boxes with your name on it?"
Jim laughed. "Richer than we'll ever be! Are we done with this part yet? I'm afraid we're going to get in trouble."
"We're just looking around," I shot back. "We're not touching anything. I'm sure nobody would mind."
Once we were done checking out the other floors, we headed back to the party on the fourth floor. By then, the Boogie Freaks had taken the stage area and had started to play "Get Down On It". This caused the dance floor to suddenly become packed with excited party guests. The costumes were just the best part of the entire evening. I spotted one gorgeous lady in an amazing rainbow colored polyester suit with large holes cut in the sides so most of her midriff was showing. She wore clear heels that sparkled with flashing lights each time she took a step. Another woman wore a fluorescent pink short dress with knee length white go go boots! She danced with a Rod Steward look-alike with sunglasses and long hair. As if we hadn't seen enough of The King this week, I spotted a guy wearing a bright white Elvis costume adorned with rhinestones.
Okay now lets talk about the music for the evening. Let me just say this: If you are ever invited to, or hear about, an event where the Boogie Freaks are playing, trust me on this: you have to go! The are so much fun! I have some friends who are almost like Boogie Freak groupies, always going to places they play. I went with them once before to Whitey's Fish Camp in Orange Park to hear the Boogie Freaks play and it was fantastic. What's not to love about dancing to songs like "Brick House", "Stayin Alive", and "Boogie Shoes"?
I thought the "Touchdown Club" would be a room. It was actually a six floor building that was part of the stadium! The "Touchdown Club" building took up the middle of the front of the stadium, and the entire front wall was made of floor-to-ceiling glass windows. As we parked and approached the stadium, we marvelled at how awesome it looked lit up at night.
We walked through the glass doors on the first floor and approached the check in desk. After we were checked in and handed 2 drink tickets each, we were directed to the elevators and instructed to head up to the fourth floor. As we entered the elevator, we bumped into a striking couple. The woman wore a disco ball necklace and a one piece black halter top bell-bottom suit. The man wore a bright floral polyester shirt and a peace sign necklace. The theme of the gala was "70s" (in case you haven't already guessed). As we ascended to the fourth floor, the man "strutted" around the elevator, doing a pretty good impression of the Bee Gees. "It's all in the walk," crooned, "I'm stayin' alive!"
"Ugh, this date just went from bad to worse!" the woman groaned as we all walked off the elevator laughing.
The fourth level of the touchdown club was this amazing carpeted room with a huge beautiful square shaped marble topped full service bar in the center. Like all of the floors of the Touchdown Club, the front wall was nothing but windows and offered a gorgeous view of the Jacksonville skyline all lit up at night. The back wall was lined with doors that led out to the stadium seating. Situated along the other walls were various snack bars. A stage and dance floor were set up for the evening with a glittering disco ball overhead. Also set up for the evening were about 20 dinner tables with white tablecloths, and cute disco ball centerpieces. Along the sides of the party area buffet tables were set up with amazing smelling beef, chicken and seafood.
Jim and I were pretty hungry, so we found an empty table, set down our stuff, and headed over to the buffet tables. The goodies set out for us to help ourselves to included grilled salmon, roasted garlic braised chicken, grilled asparagus, mashed potatoes, salad with blue cheese, and a carving table with melt-in-your-mouth prime rib. Jim and I heaped tons of food onto our plates and headed back over to our table to dig in.
While we were eating dinner, I glanced around the room. The crowd was a good mix of older and younger people. Many people appeared to know each other, and I spotted couples as well as singles. Everyone seemed to be really into the theme, and I was quite impressed with the array of outfits I saw. Many men wore Afro wigs, and women wore short tight polyester dresses and white boots.
While we were eating, a really nice lady named Sue Goebertus sat down next to us and started chatting with me. "So," she asked me, "How are you connected to the charity?" I explained all about "Out and About in Jax" and she seemed very interested. Then we talked a little about the DOSA Camps, which was the charity that the gala was raising funds for.
DOSA stands for Diocese of St. Augustine and the camps are a part of the Ministry for Persons With Disabilities in the Diocese (read: district) of St. Augustine. There are three camps included in the DOSA camps: Camp I Am Special, Camp Promise and Camp Care. Each camp is a week long summer camp (Held between May 20-July 23rd) for children and young adults faced with developmental disabilities. Many campers are paired up with a "buddy" which is a high school or college student volunteer. The camps touch so many lives, bringing joy and confidence to the campers and a life changing experience to the volunteers and buddies (some 340 campers and 240 volunteer buddies last year), while also providing some rest for the usual care givers of the campers. To read more about the camps or to apply to be a buddy, a volunteer or a camper, check out http://www.dosacamps.com/
As if to illustrate what we were talking about, as Sue and I chatted, I glanced around at the flat screen TVs that were situated along all the walls in the room. A slide show of campers and their buddies at camp played on the screens. The campers and volunteers just looked so happy. I was touched that so many people had turned out to help support such an awesome cause.
"Have you ever heard of Hands On Jacksonville?" Sue asked me, changing the subject a little. She went on to explain that Hands On Jacksonville is a great organization that pairs up volunteers with projects that need them. ( http://www.handsonjacksonville.com/ ) Once someone registers on the site, they can search for and view hundreds of volunteer opportunities in Northeast Florida, and even sign up for a particular opportunity. People can sign up as individuals and form teams. It sounded very interesting, and since one of my New Year's Resolutions is to get more involved in volunteering, I definitely made a note to get myself registered on the site as soon as possible.
While Sue and I were talking, we were served a yummy blueberry cobbler for dessert with an amazing granola and whipped cream topping. After dessert, Jim and I excused ourselves and headed over to the bar to trade in our drink tickets for a couple of drinks. While we sipped our drinks, we strolled over to the silent auction tables. The silent auction at this particular event was somewhat small, but still had some pretty cool items. One of them was a rosary made in the Church of All Nations which is in the Garden of Gethsemane. The bid for the rosary was already up to $50 and it was still relatively early in the evening.
I also spotted some Gucci sunglasses and the bidding had already gotten up to $260! I saw several facials and massages for bid, as well as a few gift certificates for dinners out. One interesting item was for a one hour in-home massage by Greg Mc Daniel.
After checking out the silent auction, I headed toward the elevator. Jim was confused as he followed. "Where are we going?" he asked me, "Are we leaving already? Did you forget something in the car?"
"No, I said," a little mischief in my eyes, "We're in the Touchdown Club.. we need to have a look around."
"Are we allowed to?" Jim asked nervously.
"Of course we are, I'm a member of the press, right?"
"Not exactly," Jim snorted. First we checked out the second floor, which was also called the Concierge floor. The level housed a snack bar called "Sweet Victory", among other snack bars and gift shops. From the second floor, I headed out one of the doors into the main seating area of the stadium. The night was cool and breezy, and there was something so mesmerizing about the huge stadium glowing in the moonlight. It was a little unsettling just how quiet it was, especially considering how loud the place probably gets on game day. The seats and floors were very clean and everything looked well cared for. I liked the teal color of the seats and walls.
After checking out the main seating area of the stadium, we headed up to the 5th and 6th floors which were basically long hallways filled with doors that led out to sky boxes. Each door had a label like "First Coast News" or "Haskell", or "Defensive Coordinator". "Which one is the defensive coordinator?" I asked Jim, "Is he the one that makes sure all the players' outfits match?" Jim just answered with an exaggerated sigh. So I asked another question. "How rich do you have to be to have one of these sky boxes with your name on it?"
Jim laughed. "Richer than we'll ever be! Are we done with this part yet? I'm afraid we're going to get in trouble."
"We're just looking around," I shot back. "We're not touching anything. I'm sure nobody would mind."
Once we were done checking out the other floors, we headed back to the party on the fourth floor. By then, the Boogie Freaks had taken the stage area and had started to play "Get Down On It". This caused the dance floor to suddenly become packed with excited party guests. The costumes were just the best part of the entire evening. I spotted one gorgeous lady in an amazing rainbow colored polyester suit with large holes cut in the sides so most of her midriff was showing. She wore clear heels that sparkled with flashing lights each time she took a step. Another woman wore a fluorescent pink short dress with knee length white go go boots! She danced with a Rod Steward look-alike with sunglasses and long hair. As if we hadn't seen enough of The King this week, I spotted a guy wearing a bright white Elvis costume adorned with rhinestones.
Okay now lets talk about the music for the evening. Let me just say this: If you are ever invited to, or hear about, an event where the Boogie Freaks are playing, trust me on this: you have to go! The are so much fun! I have some friends who are almost like Boogie Freak groupies, always going to places they play. I went with them once before to Whitey's Fish Camp in Orange Park to hear the Boogie Freaks play and it was fantastic. What's not to love about dancing to songs like "Brick House", "Stayin Alive", and "Boogie Shoes"?
The group consisted of four guys, dressed head to toe in 70s garb: platform shoes, bright polyester shirts, star shaped sunglasses, and Afro wigs. They played hit 70s dance songs , with the occasional pop hit from another decade like Jimmy Buffet's "Brown Eyed Girl" and "Hard to Handle" by the Black Crowes. For some of the songs, they appeared to have their own little choreographed moves they did as they played and sang. It was very enjoyable. They were a fun group, but also obviously talented. In fact, as I watched closely, I noticed that during one of the songs, the drummer was flipping his drumstick in the air between each strike of the drum and still keeping a perfect beat.
When the Boogie Freaks took a rest after about 20 minutes of playing, I took the opportunity to rush up to the lead singer, a nice guy named Keith. He took a picture with me, and I asked him a few questions in rapid fire: "How long have you guys been playing in this band together?"
"Ten years," he answered with a smile.
"Don't you ever get tired of some of the songs?"
"Sometimes, but the gigs are always fun."
"What's the biggest gig you ever played?" I asked him.
"We played the Hula Bowl in Honolulu a few years back," he told me. Wow.
"Do you have a favorite song?"
"What, a favorite song of all time?" he asked looking a little overwhelmed as he tried to come up with an answer.
"Well, what's your favorite songs out of the ones you guys play?"
"Oh, it's gotta be Earth, Wind and Fire's 'September',"
"Omigod I love that song!" I gushed, "Its in my workout play list. Are you going to play that later?"
"Of course," he promised. So I thanked him for his time and skipped away, giddy with excitement that I'd met the lead singer of such an awesome band.
"Of course," he promised. So I thanked him for his time and skipped away, giddy with excitement that I'd met the lead singer of such an awesome band.
The rest of the evening seemed to just fly by. Jim and I danced, gazed out at the gorgeous view of the city, and ordered a couple more drinks. We just had a fabulous time. Before we knew it, we had to start heading home, and we reluctantly headed back down the elevator and out the front door into the windy cold night. It seemed the temperature had dropped 20 degrees in the last hour and we had to hurry to our car. As we walked out of the main gate of the stadium, we passed by a security guard. "Goodnight," I called over to him, "Try to stay warm!"
There was also a Jacksonville Sheriff's Office vehicle parked right outside the stadium with a police officer sitting inside listening to some blaring country song and watching a music video on his nifty little police laptop. I thought it was cute. "Didn't he get the memo that tonight is all about 70s music? " I asked Jim through chattering teeth as we hurried by. "The 70s was such a fun theme," I mused, "I hope they do the same theme for next year's Platinum Promises Gala, because I definitely plan on being there!"
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