Greater Huntsville Rotary

The Rotary GALA is the annual major fundraiser for the Rotary Club of Greater Huntsville. It has become one of the community’s signature events, and in the year 2010 celebrates its 10^th anniversary.

The black tie event takes place Saturday, February 20^th from 5:30pm to midnight at the Von Braun Center North Hall in downtown Huntsville, Alabama.

This year’s theme is “Americans In Paris”, loosely based on the 1951 motion picture “An American In Paris”, starring Gene Kelly and Leslie Caron. The event will include cocktails, dinner, dancing, a silent auction, a casino and special Parisian entertainment by the Huntsville Community Chorus.

Proceeds will benefit the Huntsville Hospital Foundation’s Pediatric Audiology Fund ( Pediatric Audiology - A critical need for children in North Alabama ) and the Rotary Educational Assistance Fund (REAP)

The Rotary Club of Greater Huntsville club was chartered in 1990 and is part of Rotary District 6860, which includes most counties in North Alabama and Rotary Zone 30, which includes the states of Alabama, Kentucky and parts of Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana and Ohio.

The main objective of the club, as with all of Rotary International, is service - in the community, the workplace and throughout the world. The club is non-political and is open to all cultures, races and creeds.

It is also a forum for networking between professional and business leaders in Huntsville-Madison County - people who can make things happen, drive decision making and influence policy.

Rotary also hones skills in personal growth and development, encouraging leadership, public speaking and communication, organization and planning, team-building, fundraising and teaching.

For tickets, contact Ann Dennen ($1,400 per table of eight).

The Gala will feature the renowned Craig Duncan Orchestra

Craig Duncan, a member of Who’s Who in Music and Musicians and the North American Fiddler’s Hall of Fame has been the featured instrumentalist on over sixty record albums, with sales in excess of five million. His music has been heard on TV shows Malcolm in the Middle and The Oprah Winfrey Show, as well as on programs on A&E, Biography, BET, PBS, History and other cable channels. He is also recognized internationally for his many books and arrangements published by Mel Bay Publications. He has recorded for Randy Travis, Billy Dean, Kathy Mattea and Roy Clark and has worked live shows with many artists.

HIs versatile group plays the classic sounds of Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, Harry Connick and Michael Buble as well as favorite Motown and dance favorites from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s to the present. The band has performed at numerous balls including The Kentucky Colonels Derby Ball, The Nashville Symphony Ball, The Swan Ball, MDA Night of Hope, The Hunt Ball, The Huntsville Symphony Debutante Ball and The Austin Peay University Patrons Ball. It has also played many repeat performances on The General Jackson Showboat, as well as performing for numerous weddings and national conventions.

The Gala benefitted the Huntsville Hospital Foundation and Pediatric Audiology Program.

Joe Bergantz, Dorothy Havens and Tom Baxter presented a check for $20,000 to Candy Burnett, President, and Emily Miller, Manager of Donor Relations, of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation.

North Alabama has a large population of children with hearing impairment. Many others are at risk, like local St. Jude patients who require regular monitoring of their hearing due to the toxicity of their medications, and premature infants in Huntsville Hospital’s Regional Neonatal ICU who require testing for up to three years after birth to ensure adequate hearing and speech development.

Huntsville Hospital provides speech services for a small number of these children; however, most patients must travel frequently to Nashville or Birmingham for the extensive audiology services they require. Funding provided by the Gala will help provide critically needed comprehensive services – locally – for these children.

Here's a factsheet summarizing the program: Factsheet

The Huntsville Hospital Foundation featured Rotary's gift on their website

The Gala also benefitted the Rotary Child Assistance Program (REAP)

RCAP was initiated in December 2008 as an expansion of our Rotary Education Assistance Program (REAP) with the assistance of a District Simplified Grant. The program is very popular with the Madison County Department of Human Resources as it provides assistance to the foster children within 2 to 3 days of completing the application. The goal of the programs is to provide assistance to those students and children who may “fall through the crack” without the assistance of REAP and RCAP.

Since initiating the program five years ago, REAP has assisted more than 750 students and disbursed more than $72,508 in direct aid and RCAP has provided aid to 48 foster children of $4,690 for total assistance provided of $77,198 over the five years. These numbers do not include thousands of dollars in additional services provided by or donated by club members, such as, tooth extractions and orthodontic work. The programs are growing tremendously which may be the result of the current economic turmoil and reduction of funds from other sources.

Read more about REAP.

The Corporate Sponsors include:

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