BY RUTH RICE
RRICE@TRIBDEM.COM
Fun and games will bring funds to two educational pursuits.
“An Evening of Fun to Benefit Education,” which will aid Johnstown Symphony Orchestra’s Young People’s Concerts and the Eddie Vetock Scholarship Fund, will begin at 6 p.m. Jan. 30 at Sunnehanna Country Club, 1000 Sunnehanna Drive, Westmont.
Patricia Hofscher, executive director of the symphony, said that the public might not be aware of the Young People’s Concerts, but they have been going on for 17 years.
“They are by invitation only,” Hofscher said.
“It’s not public. We invite fifth-grade students from surrounding counties.
“The schools bus the students in, but that’s all they pay for.”
Students are treated to a 45-minute concert featuring a full symphony orchestra as they receive an introduction to all the instruments and styles of music and learn how music is used in the movies and everyday life.
“Some years, we do three sets for almost 3,000 students,” Hofscher said.
“We start at 9:30 in the morning, and we don’t skimp on instruments.
“The players come into town to rehearse the night before. Many of them are teachers, but they make themselves available.”
This year’s Young People’s Concert will be held March 30 at Pasquerilla Performing Arts Center, Richland Township.
The Eddie Vetock Scholarship Fund at the Community Foundation was established in 2006 to provide funds for caddies and other employees and their children at Sunnehanna in memory of Vetock, who served as a caddy at Sunnehanna for more than 25 years, despite having Down syndrome.
“I knew him growing up, and he was one of the best,” Hofscher.
“He really did have the gift of gab.”
Proceeds from the “Evening of Fun for Education” will benefit the Young People’s Concerts and Vetock Scholarship Fund equally.
The event will start with a cash bar at 6, followed by a full-course buffet dinner from 7 to 8:30.
Entertainment will include blackjack and poker, a roulette wheel, sporting games of basketball and football and an indoor six-hole putt-putt golf course.
A silent auction will feature foursomes at Sunnehanna and other area golf courses and an overnight stay for two at Seven Springs.
“That can be taken for skiing this winter or for golf in the spring,” Hofscher said.
Other items will include sports memorabilia from Pittsburgh Steelers and Pittsburgh Penguins; an autographed Arnold Palmer poster; and a baseball signed by Dustin Pedroia, second baseman for the Boston Red Sox.
For nonsports fans, there will be items from Karen’s Couture, jewelry, paintings and table lamps.
There also will be an overnight stay with breakfast at the Holiday Inn; the makings for a cocktail party for 40; and a week’s stay at a condo on Florida’s west shore.
The cost of the fundraiser is $70 per person, which includes the games and dinner.
Reservations should be made by Wednesday.
Fundraiser
What: “An Evening of Fun to Benefit Education.”
When: 6 p.m. Jan. 30.
Where: Sunnehanna Country Club, 1000 Sunnehanna Drive, Westmont.
Cost: $70 per person.
Information: 535-6738.
