Here’s our first uploaded video – our Thank you slideshow for our 2019 Dining in the Dark sponsors and donors.
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Our annual fundraiser, Dining in the Dark, was held on Friday, March 29, 2019 at the Red Lion Hotel on Fox Farm Road. All funds raised go to our Vision Committee Grant, which helps low income youth and adults obtain eye exams and glasses.
This year we had a special program, Dining in the Dark with Helen Keller, with actors from the True Troupe appearing in a one-act play – portraying Keller, Annie Sullivan, Alexander Graham Bell and Mark Twain in specific points of Keller’s life. The play was specially written for this event.
Our report is graphics intensive, so please wait for all photos to load.
The cast of Dining in the Dark with Helen Keller. Cast photos by Emilygrace Piel
It was Helen Keller who, in 1925, gave a speech to the Lions Club exhorting them to be “Knights of the Blind in her crusade against darkness.” The Lions – with clubs around the world – took up her call and continue to focus on vision-related service to this day.
During social hour, Cheyenne Brass kept the joint jumping
Dining in the Dark with Helen Keller was held in the Yellowstone Room of the Red Lion Hotel. The event began at 6 pm with a social hour, complete with cash bar.
Click to download
Accompanied by music from Cheyenne Brass, guests spent time browsing through our Pick a Prize raffle items. Several local Cheyenne businesses contributed generously to our fund raiser, either with a gift basket or with gift certificates that were combined into themed baskets. We also had items donated from Chugwater and Laramie, as well as Johnstown, CO and Denver,CO.
Click on the image to the left to download the PDF of our sponsors and donors with hot-links to their websites.
Inside the Yellowstone Room at the Red Lion Hotel
Views of all items offered for our pick-a-prize raffles
Dinner was served at 7 pm. Guests had a choice of chicken and steak with seasoned potatoes and a vegetable medley, or a vegetarian pasta dish, topped off with cheesecake for dessert.
Guests – members of the three Lions Clubs in Cheyenne as well as other members of the community, enjoy dinner, as do Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, Alexander Graham Bell and Mark Twain
A few door prizes were handed out by our MC, and then began the performance of:
Dining in the Dark with Helen Keller
Helen Keller (Traci Erickson), escorted to podium by Annie Sullivan (Angie Ingram)
Helen shares highlights from her life while Alexander Graham Bell (Bill Blansfield), Mark Twain (Jack Walts) and Annie Sullivan (Angie Ingram) listen attentively. So does the audience!
Alexander Graham Bell (Bill Blansfield) first met Keller when she was only six years old
Mark Twain (Jack Walts) first met 14-year-old Keller at a party and was impressed by her wit and sense of humor
Our actors received a standing ovation at the end of their performance
Our actors exited the room in character. While our MC began drawing tickets for all of the bucket raffles, the 50-50 drawings and so on, a theatrical tradition took place in the adjacent room.
Director/producer Adrianna True (not shown) gives gifts and thanks to stage manager Emilygrace Piel, technical supervisor Jacob Marquez, and the actors
Back in the Yellowstone Room, our MC kept the room entertained while drawing for the pick-a-prize raffles.
Our MC, Noon Lion Craig Hibberd, draws tickets from jars for each of our prize baskets, with help from Noon Lions Bonnie Harrison, Ginny Chidsey and Kayla Madler
Noon Lion Howard Last won a Makeover Basket, and is enjoying the boa.
One of three centerpiece designs, crafted by Noon Lion Diann Last. As an appreciation of our guests, one lucky person at each table was awarded the centerpiece to take home.
We’d like to thank the True Troupe for such a wonderful production, our guests for making our fundraiser a success, and the Dining in the Dark committee (Ginny Chidsey, Bob Clary, Bonnie Harrison, Craig Hibberd, Diann Last, Howard Last, Dave Orr and Barbara Peterson) who worked tirelessly for several months to put this fundraiser together.
Dining in the Dark 2020 is already in the works.
We hope to see you then!
In closing, here’s a closeup view of all our pick a prize raffle baskets. We’ll have even more next year!
Pick A Prize Baskets
In addition to donors for our pick-a-prize raffles, several businesses here in Cheyenne have sponsored our tables.
Continuing sponsor
Sponsors
Several generous businesses throughout Cheyenne, as well as Chugwater and Laramie – and Colorado! – have donated items for door prizes, raffles and our silent auction, for Dining in the Dark With Helen Keller, March 29, 2019 at the Red Lion Hotel.
From Colorado, our donors were:
From Cheyenne, our donors were:
From Chugwater, our donors were:
From Laramie, our donors were:
Individual donors from Cheyenne were:
We’re working hard to make Dining in the Dark 2019 a success!
Dining in the Dark with Helen Keller will take place on March 29, 2019 at the Red Lion Hotel.
The actors portraying Helen Keller, Annie Sullivan, Alexander Graham Bell and Mark Twain have been cast by the True Troupe and are being directed by Adriana True.
Meantime, Lions Fundraiser Committee members are busy with all aspects of holding a fundraiser – soliciting silent auction and raffle items, preparing advertising materials, preparing table centerpieces and so on.
We’ll be sharing a list of the items donated by our generous Cheyenne community in a future post.
Welcome to the official blog of the Cheyenne Noon Lions Club.
We will do our best to keep both Lions and members of our community updated with event of our club, and of the Lions in general!
