Grafton – Join Apple Tree Arts as they celebrate the return of the historic Great Hall as a performance and event venue with a Masquerade Gala fundraiser on Saturday, April 8, 7 – 10 p.m. featuring live music, a DJ for dancing, hors d’oeuvres, cash bar, raffles and auction items. Admission is $50 for general and $75 for VIP which includes an earlier start time at 6:30 p.m., a special performance, reserved seating and a signature event cocktail. Catering is by Peppers Artful Events. Cocktail attire is suggested. Masks are optional. To purchase admission, visit www.appletreearts.org/events/spring-gala or drop by Apple Tree Arts’ office at One Grafton Common.
“We’re unmasking the Great Hall and letting everyone know how much the space has been improved during the recently completed phases of construction,” explained Liz Spinney, chair of Apple Tree Arts’ Gala committee. The hall has been renovated so it’s now a venue for concerts, theatre performances and events. The work has included removal of the cubicles, painting of the auditorium, installation of acoustic carpeting and professional cleaning of the hall and light fixtures. Future renovations will include additional improvements to the stage and auditorium.
“Our eight-member Gala committee thought a masquerade fundraiser would be a unique and exciting way to bring the community together to celebrate the renovations while supporting the organization,” Spinney said. “The committee wanted to have a fundraiser that focused on the opening of the Great Hall as a theatre and performance venue.”
The event benefits the nonprofit community school of the arts’ operating budget.
Apple Tree Arts’ Capital Campaign committee is working jointly with the Gala committee members to offer a fun, interactive live auction of chairs for the auditorium. For a $250 donation, donors may sponsor a chair and have their name – or the name of their family, child, friend, company or community group – engraved on a beautiful brass plaque prominently affixed on the chair. More than one chair or even a row of chairs may be donated in this special live auction. Two hundred chairs are needed for the space.
A chair donation offers a unique way for people to show their support of the arts and culture in Grafton as well as their support for Apple Tree Arts and to honor their family, child, friend, company or community group. Future theatre, concert and event goers will recognize that this commitment has made their cultural experience possible.
Apple Tree Arts thanks its current sponsors and in-kind donors. Sponsors include the Baniukiewicz Family, Millbury National Bank, RE/MAX, UniBank and Yesod Foundation. In-kind donors include The Grafton Grill (feature appetizer) and Taylor Rental of Mendon and Westborough (table and linen rentals). Auction items were generously donated by Disney World (Disney Park Hopper passes), Mirabeau Spa (gift certificate), and Westboro Swim & Tennis Club (week of summer camp), among many others. Sponsorships are available.
Founded in 1989, Apple Tree Arts, a nonprofit 501 (c) 3 organization has grown to serve over 1,000 children and adults annually with early childhood music classes, group keyboard lessons, private music and voice instruction, ensembles, theatre arts programs, community events and community concerts. For more information, visit www.appletreearts.org.
