• Salt River Arts seeks donors and volunteers.

Salt River Arts Society is hosting their first annual Gala for the Arts on February 24 in the Don Wooden Civic Center in Alpine at 6 p.m. Mark your calendars for an evening filled with entertainment, adventure, delicious food with classic alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink options, as well as an opportunity to support the arts in Star Valley.  The Society is currently seeking sponsors and offering pre-Gala treats to the community.

Featuring a Gatsby 20’s theme for its inaugural year, the Gala is a fundraising event to inspire financial support for the art space offered through the historic Ford Theatre in Afton.  The menu includes hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and a dinner buffet. Guests should plan to take home some wonderful items from the silent auction. Entertainers include a long list of the most well-known and beloved performing artists in Star Valley presenting from two stages, for a non-stop evening of music and fun. Adventures include a murder mystery game and a photo booth, among other opportunities.

Organizer Lauren Preston enthusiastically described plans for the evening in an interview with SVI Media last week, saying that the hall will be packed with various activities and exciting items for guests to take home. “With the silent auction, we have had a lot of [donation] interest from the Star Valley community, and also from Jackson, Victor and Targhee. They have all shown interest in donating some pretty great items for the silent auction.”

Individuals or businesses interested in donating items, baskets, experiences, or services for the auction can reach out to Preston directly. Donation boxes will also be set up throughout the building during the Gala event. Guests can exchange cash at the event for gold coins, which will serve as the currency for the evening.  “There’s a lot of perks to being a generous patron of our arts community. We’re a non-profit, so there’s a great tax benefit. There’s also a lot of promotional benefits.”

If you are looking for a unique Valentine’s or Galentine’s gift, order a festive basket containing tickets to the Gala as well as other goodies for guys and gals. Basket options include flowers, candies, gift certificates, sporting goods, tickets to other Ford events, pamper packages and various other gift options.  “These are going to be hand delivered by one of our actors dressed as a flapper or a Dapper Dan of the 20’s era,” said Preston. “It’s a ready-made, really great gift that will show up candygram style, making a really wonderful Valentine’s Day gift that’s hand prepared and hand delivered.”

Guests to the Gala must be 21 and older. With only 150 tickets available, Preston is encouraging the community to make their ticket purchases right away. “All the details will be on the website soon. It’s going to be a lot of fun!”.

“The biggest thing that got me excited about being involved with this is just that the Ford Theater and the Salt River Arts Society are really for everyone and it’s such a wonderful thing to have a resource that is there for the entire community, because I think that Star Valley can tend to be a little like a bunch of micro communities, and to have something [like the Ford that is really for everyone and just so welcoming and accepting and just fantastic for people from any walk of life to express themselves and be a part of the community is what struck me as a really wonderful aspect about this program. To have a place outside of church and the school, where kids can maybe have a ballet recital on a real stage and adults can have Community Theater and it’s just such an amazing program that I think is very deserving of this  community that appreciates it and has been so generous so far. I’m very grateful.”

For more information or to make a donation, please reach out to Preston by emailing saltriverarts@gmail.com or call or text 307-880-2739.

Valentine gift baskets and tickets to the Gala can be purchased at saltriverarts.com/gala.