Tickets are on sale now for the 30th annual Uncle Sam’s Birthday Party hosted by the Tucker Community Foundation featuring a $10,000 jackpot.
This popular elimination style dinner will be held on Friday, July 5 at the Bear Paw Lodge of Canaan Valley Resort. Social hour starts at 5:15 p.m. followed by dinner at 6 p.m. Tickets sell for $125 and entitle the bearer to a dinner for two and one chance on a door prize or 15 cash prizes ranging from $250 to $1,000.
Only 250 tickets are sold for this one of a kind party. Interested persons can purchase tickets online (tuckerfoundation.net), from any Tucker Community Foundation board member or by calling the Foundation office at 304-478-2930. Proceeds from the event support unrestricted grant and scholarship awards for local organizations and students.
This year’s theme is “Diamonds and Pearls,” said Foundation Board Member Donna Patrick, who coordinates the event with Amy Barb.
“This is one of the most social events of the year,” Patrick said, noting people come from surrounding counties and other states for the gathering. “People enjoy getting dressed up, talking with friends and making new ones. It also allows people to learn about the Tucker Community Foundation and our mission of creating opportunities for the communities we serve.”
New this year 11 ticket holders will pop 30th anniversary balloons to determine their prize amount ranging from $250 to $1,000. The big winner during the dinner at Canaan Valley Resort – or winners, should they choose to split – will get $10,000.
“Attendees will also have the opportunity to purchase additional raffle tickets and win more and bigger cash prizes,” Patrick said. “This year the special prize packages include an Pearls and Guns Package, the popular Greenbrier Resort Weekend Package and a crowd favorite, the Totally Tucker Package which features many locally themed items.”
David Cooper, president of the foundation, will once again dress up in full Uncle Sam regalia and have fun entertaining the guests. He will also serve as emcee.
“Uncle Sam’s Birthday Party is just a fun outing,” Cooper said. “I think it’s an avenue that we have to actually have people learn more about what the Foundation does, aside from just giving out grants and scholarships, but in a fun environment.”
Rob Burns, executive director for the Tucker Community Foundation, said the event was started by Dr. Thomas Patrick.“The group of board members that founded the Tucker Community Foundation was struggling to figure out how to pay for the telephone, envelopes and postage,” Burns said. “The annual Uncle Sam’s Birthday Party became the general fund raiser to buy envelopes and paper. Over the years it has grown just as the foundation has.”
Sponsors of the event include: Mountain Valley Bank, Miners & Merchants Bank, Citizen’s National Bank of WV, Grant County Bank and First Energy Foundation.
The Tucker Community Foundation manages more than 130 endowed funds providing annual scholarships and grants to nonprofits and charitable causes throughout the eight-county service area (Barbour, Grant, Mineral, Pocahontas, Preston, Randolph and Tucker counties, W.Va. and Garrett County, Md.). Inspired by the flood of 1985, the mission of the Foundation is to create opportunities for the communities we serve. For more information on Uncle Sam’s Birthday Party or to learn about the foundation, visit www.tuckerfoundation.net
