Annual Ball 2002 – 2009 Balls
The Foundation’s main annual fundraising activity is our Annual Ball. Our first Ball was held at the Cape Town City Hall on the 8th of August 2002. The evening was a very grand affair with guests entering on a red carpet to the Sound of a Marimba Band. The Zerilda Park Primary Jazz band put on a great performance as an introduction to the evening and the Guest speaker was our patron of honour the Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. After the speeches and the Auction (conducted by Jonathon Schmiedt of Claremart Auctioneers) we danced the night away to the sound of the Mike Campbell Big Band. 250 people attended and we raised R94,000 from the Ball. As the chairs in the City Hall are each individually bolted to the floor, our biggest challenge was unscrewing each of the chairs, carting them away and storing them and then bolting them back in again on the Sunday morning! But the success of the evening made it all worthwhile.
The next year, our Ball was held at the Cape Town City Hall on the 21st June 2003 – once again we had the job of unbolting and rebolting all of those chairs! For the second consecutive year, our members demonstrated their capacity and flair for organization in producing something of which we can justifiably be very proud. This year it was “A Masked Ball” and the old Cape Town City Hall was transformed by a tireless team. Guests stood transfixed as the organ accompanied a soloist through “The Phantom of the Opera” and we were then treated to fantastic performances by The Masizame Dancers, The Beau Soleil String Quartet and the Mike Campbell Big Band and Singers. At the end of the evening we were left with the feeling that we would battle to continue improving on the success of this event! We were privileged again to be able to call on the expert services of auctioneer Jonathan Smiedt of Claremart, and the net proceeds of the event amounted to R114,000. Prof. Wilmot James, a professor of sociology who also runs “The Social Cohesion & Integration Research Programme” of the Human Sciences Research Council, was our guest speaker. The principle Beneficiary of this event was designated as The Masizame Crèche and After-Care Youth Project in Nyanga. It was a truly exceptional event and we thank all those responsible for making it such a success.
In 2004 the Ball was held for the first time at the Arabella Sheraton and the theme was the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. Our guest speaker was Dr Tshabalala and Jonathan Smiedt of Claremart once again made it possible for us to reach record breaking auction proceeds.
In 2005, the bar was yet again raised! This event is truly becoming one of the social highlights of the year. The Arabella Sheraton was very happy to host us again as they recognized the genuine quality of the event. Freshly Ground was a huge hit and we could not have found a better match to our theme of “Afro-Chic”. It formed the platform for our support of the Baphumelele initiative of Rosy Mashale and, largely through the efforts of our auctioneer par excellence, Jonathan Smiedt of Claremart, we raised R201 00.00 through our auction. We were privileged to be able to present Mr Guy Lundy as our guest speaker. His talks are always thought-provoking and inspirational. We join in thanking him as well as all our generous sponsors that make this evening possible.
In 2006, just when we thought we had done it all, our members and supporters astonished us with their generosity, seemingly in proportion to the party atmosphere that is created at the Annual Solstice Ball. Our “Red Hot Love” theme, presented as red and pink roses and hearts, took the already grand Arabella Sheraton to the next level and set the scene for a spectacular evening that was the talk of the town for weeks afterwards. The Salsa band, Maquina Loco, put us all in the mood for a big party, which extended late into the evening, greatly helped by the brilliant music choice of DJ Brett Burton. Jonathan Smiedt of Claremart, again generously donated his time and excellent persuasive skills to entice over R300 000 from our 350 supporters during the auction – more than 30% up on 2005! We were fortunate that Mr Mike Wills willingly agreed to be guest speaker, and his motivational message, we are sure, contributed to our guests digging deep in their pockets during the auction. NOAH (Neighbourhood Old Age Homes) was identified as the main beneficiary for the year. With the considerable increase in auction income we were very pleased that we were able to increase our contributions to Indawo Yentsikelelo, Baphumelele and NOAH during the year.
In 2007, our first venue change in four years saw the ball being held at Pigalle Restaurant in Green Point on 25th August, which has the perfect décor and setting for our theme, “Glitterati”. Thanks to the huge effort from Jo Fuller, family, friends and the committee, the restaurant was enhanced with glitter and glass for the evening. The guest’s ball gowns lived up to the theme spectacularly! We were a bit concerned that the venue size would compromise our fund-raising abilities but we should not have doubted our loyal supporters! Although there were about 250 people at the ball (about 100 less than the previous years), the auction managed to smash all records, and with the help of the Mike Campbell Band we had a fantastic party at the same time! We must also thank our speaker, well known journalist and author, Shaun Johnson, who flew in from the USA just in time to address the guests. We raised R452 000 by auctioning a wide range of very exciting items such as a Formula One racing experience, a week’s skiing in Whistler, Canada, contemporary art works and beautiful platinum jewellery. Jonathan Smiedt, our very loyal and energetic auctioneer, managed to conduct an auction par excellence and even succeeded in enticing one very generous supporter to match 25% of the evening’s auction tally in cash! Our KiDS scholars helped to sell raffle tickets raising over R R18 620, also our highest ever raffle takings. Overall we raised R574 747.47!! (must be a lucky number!)
Saturday, the 23rd August 2008 saw the 7th Annual Solstice Ball, held at the Westin Grand Cape Town Arabella Quays on the Foreshore. Once again, it was an event to behold, with our theme “Disguise’, displaying many an alter ego. The 260 guests danced the night away to the fantastic Flat Stanley and were treated to an evening of glamour and fun!
Our patron, Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, although not able to be present at the ball, recorded a speech especially for the occasion which was viewed via projection onto a large screen. As this technology was necessary in order to hear his speech, the Foundation took the opportunity to present a short video of the projects supported to date. This was a first for Solstice and was received very enthusiastically. A huge thanks must go to McKenzie Rudolf Film Services who donated their time, and equipment to visit all our projects to get video footage, and to Jo Higgs of Serendipitous Enterprises and Amanda Reekie, one of our very talented Committee members, who edited the footage to create the final product.
A number of exciting items were auctioned on the night, amongst which were a week’s skiing in Whistler, Canada; a holiday at Pestana Bazaruto Lodge in Mozambique; a Rhino Walking Safari and stay at a game lodge; beautiful diamond jewellery; original artworks, and, as always, fantastic wine, to name a few. Jonathan Smiedt, our very loyal auctioneer, once again conducted the auction and R360,250 was raised.
The committee decided that in 2009 we would take a ‘gap year’ from the balls, and begin preparations for a bumper ball, to be held earlier in 2010 due to the Soccer World Cup taking place in the winter months when we usually host the ball. Other fundraising events were embarked upon.
