Fire and Ice Ball

It's that event that middle-upper class husbands dread.  It the means of raising many thousands of dollars for many larger charities.  And it's where the wealthy go to "get a good deal" on jewelry and sports memorabilia.


The Red Cross has a charity ball called The Fire and Ice Ball.

Here's the event info: Red Cross Ball

It was fun! We sat at a table with two other couples who had been sponsored that night (in other words, got in for free) -- one couple were injured soldiers and the lady in the other couple is a Red Cross volunteer. The other two couples at our table were there to actually donate money and/or bid since it was a charity ball. From what I could see, I believe that members of the armed forces, preferably injured, were placed at each table so that donors could rub elbows with the people whom they were indirectly benefiting.

Marine General James T. Conway was honored with a lifetime excellence award (40 years of service in the Marines!!), along with injured members of each branch of the military.  The Army recipient stood tall enough to reach Man's armpit, but that didn't stop him from performing some heroics and receiving a traumatic brain injury in Iraq.  The only honoree to struggle to contain his emotion was the Air Force guy.  You better believe that the Marine to receive the award was on his very best behavior with General Conway standing right behind him during his speech.  The poor guys barely spoke 10 words in acceptance. 

There were silent and live auctions on trips, jewelry, and sports memorabilia.  One man at our table, a former Soldier, commented on how good of a deal it was to have 4 signed baseballs (Ripkin, Ryan, Rose, and Aaron, whoever those guys are) at a starting bid of $800.  The most expensive sports item was a blueprint of a stadium signed by Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and Joe DeMaggio valued at $16,000.  Lots of bats, jersey's and helmets were on display next to necklaces whose value I just didn't understand.  $1200 value for what, exactly?  I've seen similar stuff on WalMart shelves for $5.  The most expensive non-sports item on the silent auction was made out of mink, something I thought East Coasters would have a raging fit over (valued at $5,000).  The weirdest thing I saw was a salad bowl valued at $450.  It looked like beaten silver with sort of glass tongs.  Seriously?  It seemed like a lot of the items up for bid didn't get sold for quite what they were valued at.  At the end of the live bidding there was a push for straight up donations.  A large screen showed the goal ($20,000) and displayed names of those who were contributing funds via little machines that looked like iPhones.  There was a gasp and applause as the goal was met within a very few minutes and then exceeded. 

The food was 5 star catering, for sure. Menu included a squash soup, poached pear salad (on a bed of greens with fresh made Dijon dressing; a lump of mild but tangy cheese was nestled in a hollow in the pear), halibut (perfectly poached with a delicious sauce), guinea fowl, delicate veggies of many kinds (didn't care for the carrots or potatoes), and tiny deserts you only see on the food network (brie cheesecake, chocolate pyramid bursting forth with a caramel center, and mango sorbet in a little inverted pastry hat; each offering was the size of a golf ball; Man was the happy recipient of the diabetic lady's untouched dessert).  Gourmet cupcakes with mile high icing were piled high and available before and after the meal.

A live band played Big Band type music and some Sinatra and Tom Jones. A lady singer whaled on a tambourine and shook her booty in time to her maracas.  She minced her way out to the dance floor and gracefully interpreted direction from the sound crew when her position in the hall started giving feedback from her microphone.  Single soldiers stared at her with their mouths hanging open and one plump but brave young man danced with her while she sang with a slightly alarmed expression on her face.  After that she took a drink break and didn't leave the stage again.  One of the weirder songs was a jazzed up Ding Dong the Witch is Dead. 

Gift bags afterward included brochures on how to donate even more money to the Red Cross and a little flashlight that plugs into the wall and lights up in a blackout or whenever energy flow is otherwise interrupted.  They also act as nightlights.  Tag was happy to get one of those for his room. 

We rode down and back with some nice Sergeants and had some good conversation. One of them was in full dress blues and wanted to stay very late because "it took me all week to put these blues together, I'm going to ride them 'til the wheels fall off." All those little medals and things are difficult to adjust to Army standards.  Man looked very good in formal greens, which is just the Army dress greens uniform with a normal white shirt and bow tie instead of the green shirt with black hanging tie. 

All in all, a good time and I was glad to take my shoes off at home.  I still have a couple of flowers pilfered from the centerpieces.  Their heavy heads (three rose and one crimson Gerbera daisy) bow over the edge of a plastic glass, classy meets mom un-chic.  A girlfriend of mine helped me do my hair since my awkward attempts netted me a headful of fuzz and a few bent bobby pins.  Best comment of the evening came from my 2 year old "Oooooh, mommy's a peen-cess!"