2010-06-22
Area residents have a unique opportunity this summer to win a brand new motorcycle while also helping with an important scholarship fundraising event.
The University of Rio Grande/Rio Grande Community College is holding the Bell Tower Ball Motorcycle Raffle, and all area residents are invited to buy tickets. The grand prize winner will receive a 2010 Shadow 750CC Motorcycle from Riverfront Honda in Gallipolis. In addition, cash prizes of $1,000, $500, $250 and $100 will also be awarded.
Several community groups and organizations, such as the Hampton Inn of Gallipolis, are supporting the raffle and Bell Tower Ball events. The Ohio Valley Bank is also involved with the event, and will be selling raffle tickets at all the bank's locations in Gallipolis and Jackson. Raffle tickets are also being sold by the Office of Alumni Relations at Rio Grande. Tickets will also be sold at the Rio Grande booth at the Fourth of July River Recreation Festival in Gallipolis. Only 1,500 tickets will be sold, and the tickets cost $20 each.
The Grande Prize ticket will be drawn during an event on the Rio Grande campus on Aug. 21, which is also part of the move-in weekend for the campus for the fall semester. The winner will not need to be present to win.
"The focus today is on the importance of education and the need for scholarship money to assist college students as they prepare for their future. Right now, the Bell Tower Ball Motorcycle Raffle offers a fun way for area residents to not only provide needed funding, but also have a chance to win a 2010 Honda Shadow 750CC Motorcycle, or one of several cash prizes," said Marianne B. Campbell, full-time volunteer for the Gallia County Chamber of Commerce and CIC of Gallia County. "What a great opportunity to be a part of this fundraising effort!"
Campbell is serving as a co-chair for the Bell Tower Ball Committee with Rio Grande graduate Charlie Kunkel, who lives in Ashland, Ky.; Rio Grande graduate Kim Nye, who lives in Portsmouth; and Rio Grande Professor Dr. Jacob White.
The cash prize winners will be drawn at the Bell Tower Ball, which will be held on Oct. 23 in the Davis University Center on the Rio Grande campus. Proceeds from the raffle help fund the Bell Tower Ball, which is a scholarship fundraising event for Rio Grande students.
"It is a wonderful event," Charlie Kunkel said.
The Bell Tower Ball is a formal event that will feature music by R&B Station, a well-known group that performs around the region and will include one American Idol finalist and Mark Pender, who was a part of the Late Night With Conan O‘Brien Band. The evening will also feature wine from the Merry Family Winery of Bidwell, and a silent and live auction that will include outstanding donated items such as cruises and trips. The Bell Tower Ball Committee is also still accepting donations for the silent and live auctions.
"All of the proceeds from the Bell Tower Ball will be used to support scholarships at the University of Rio Grande and Rio Grande Community College," said Rio Grande Alumni Relations Director Annette Ward. She explained that the event will be a great opportunity for people from the campus and the community to come together for a special evening.
"The community is strongly encouraged to attend, we would like to have as many area residents there as possible to celebrate Rio Grande and the important role it plays in the region," Ward said. The event will also serve as an opportunity to welcome Rio Grande President Barbara Gellman-Danley, Ph.D., and Rio Grande Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs Kenneth Porada, Ph.D., to campus.
Charlie Kunkel, who is also vice president of the Rio Grande Alumni Board, added that the event will also be a great opportunity to network and get to know people from around the region.
"We see it as an opportunity to bring the community, alumni, students, faculty and administration together for a wonderful event," Kunkel said. "It's an event that everybody can participate in." The committee hopes to make the Bell Tower Ball an annual event that will be fun for the community while also raising scholarship funds for Rio Grande students.
For more information on the Bell Tower Ball Motorcycle Raffle or on the Bell Tower Ball, call Annette Ward at 1-800-282-7201.
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