Ticket's Now Available!
Tickets for the 2023 Crystal Ball Gala, “A Night in Havana,” are now available for purchase. The gala, which benefits 800 nonprofits and charitable causes through the Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi, is planned for Saturday, January 21, 2023, at The Arena at Southaven. The Crystal Ball is the Community Foundation’s only fundraiser. This year’s theme promises an elegant evening of fun starting with free front-door valet service.
Limited tickets are available for the Jan. 21, 2023, gala at the Arena at Southaven. The tickets are $175 per person and must be purchased in advance at www.crystalballgala.org or 662.449.5002. A cell phone number is needed for each ticketholder, as this will be your form of check in. “Think about Crystal Ball check in like the airport now. Expect a text message the day of the event with your unique link to check in. This is your ticket in the door. You will show the concierge your ticket confirmation on your phone to enter the gala.” said Community Foundation CFO, Carol Smith. Deadline for ticket purchases is Jan. 10.
“This year’s Havana theme was originally intended to be used last year until the event was canceled at the last minute due to COVID. Building on what had already been planned, this year’s décor chairs, Rayanne Hollis and Ashley Stevenson, have implemented some terrific additional design ideas including several giant hand-painted backdrops previously used at a celebrity event in Miami,” said Crystal Ball chairman Scott Hollis. “Each year we try to raise the production quality of the event. For this Crystal Ball, we are bringing in the same sound and video system used at the Botanical Garden’s concert series and the FedEx Forum together with a concert lighting system. We intend to utilize those technologies throughout the event to give it the feeling of a broadcast production—something already well known to the Napiers.”
Erin and Ben Napier—Laurel, Mississippi natives and stars of the HGTV show Hometown—will be honored with the annual Star of Hope award. Graduates of The University of Mississippi, and founding co-owners of Laurel Mercantile Company, have dedicated their lives to promoting the rebirth of historic downtown districts - revitalizing small-town America.
Local Community Stars will also be honored at the gala: Pastor Bartholomew Orr of Brown Missionary Baptist Church as Dan Maddox Man of the Year, Chelesa Presley of the Diaper Bank of the Mississippi Delta as Margaret Maddox Woman of the Year, Emmett Till Interpretive Center as Nonprofit of the Year, and Sephora as Business of the Year.
Auction items will include a week in Charleston, South Carolina, a ladies lunch at artist Harris Fyfe’s studio, as well as a week stay at a Fort Morgan Beach House, to name a few. There’s also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have John Lennon’s sister give you a private Beatles tour of Liverpool! This year's auction will be available online at www.crystalballgala.org and during the event. There will be exclusive Live Auction items available for those guests in attendance.
Get Sideways, a band from Birmingham, Alabama, will provide an unforgettable night playing the most fun music to get you on the dancefloor and singing along to every song! They travel all over the country and you will not want to miss them at the Crystal Ball.
Cocktails start at 6 p.m. after you have arrived at the Havana Harbor. Enjoy a lounge area in our hotel lobby before you make your way to the Havana club for an extraordinary night benefiting nonprofits in Northwest Mississippi!
The Community Foundation of Northwest Mississippi manages 285 donor-established funds. Established in 2002 with a generous grant from the Maddox Foundation, the Community Foundation is an independent 501(c)3 charitable organization. The Foundation serves Bolivar, Coahoma, DeSoto, Leflore, Marshall, Panola, Quitman, Sunflower, Tallahatchie, Tate, and Tunica counties. A board of 20 volunteer civic leaders governs the Community Foundation. Learn more about the Community Foundation at www.cfnm.org or call 662.449.5002. Follow the Community Foundation on Facebook at facebook.com/CFNM315, Twitter at @CFNM_2002, YouTube at CFNM2002, Instagram at CFNM2002, and find us on Flickr at Community Foundation Northwest Mississippi. www.cfnm.org.