Valentines Ball 2023

The Dinner Party’s the Thing

, and her short stories have been published in multiple The Valentine Ball is approaching. Reserve your seat at the table.anthologies. She currently lives in the South

Writer, educator, and community volunteer, Border , both optioned for film. She is the winner of the Mary Frances Hobson Prize for Distinguished Achievement in Arts and Letters, the Patricia Winn Award for Southern Literature, and the South Carolina Fiction Award. Michel is a past board chair of the Hub City Writers Project in

By Courtney McDermott

Imagine dining in the home of someone you’ve likely never met and making memories you’ll never forget, all while raising money for the health of the entire community.

Having trouble picturing it? Then you’ve never experienced the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Foundation’s Valentine Ball.

The 34th annual event, set for Saturday, February 11, 2023, at Tabby Place, will feature the ever-popular pre-ball dinner parties, live music performed by Charlotte, NC-based Diverse Groove, a silent auction, cocktails, and dessert.

First held in 1989, the Valentine Ball has a decades-long tradition as Beaufort’s premier black-tie affair, with its own unique twist.

Generous community members throughout the area open their homes, book upscale restaurants, or reserve private clubs to host guests for pre-ball dinner parties, often the highlight of the annual event. The dinners are included in the ticket price and provide guests the opportunity to bask in the hospitality of local hosts while meeting new friends along the way.

“Hundreds of Beaufort-area families have hosted dinner parties for thousands of Valentine Ball guests over the past 34 years,” said BMH Foundation Executive Director and Associate Vice President Kim Yawn. “Pre-ball dinner parties are by far the most popular aspect of this event.”

Attendees who purchase tickets by January 13 are guaranteed a seat at a private dinner party. Guests may choose to dine with friends by request, but it’s often the element of surprise and the opportunity to meet new people that makes these dinners so memorable.

“There is truly nothing like being welcomed into someone’s home and dining with a group of people you may have never met, and all for a great cause,” Yawn says.

From historic homes in Beaufort’s Old Point and waterfront homes on Lady’s Island, to downtown restaurants like Griffin Market and private venues like Dataw Island’s Clubhouse, dinner parties are held throughout the Beaufort area and often feature cocktail receptions, passed hors d’oeuvres and multi-course meals prepared by the hosts, or by local chefs.

After dinner it’s off to the ball where guests enjoy desserts, drinks, and live music, while browsing and bidding on trips, artwork, spa services and more at the silent auction.

Co-chaired by William & Mary Beth Donovan and John & Danielle Troutman, this year’s event will mark a new and critical focus of the hospital’s future: providing career paths and opportunities for current employees and training new generations of health care providers to meet the growing needs of the community. Organizers hope to raise more than $200k to support the hospital’s workforce development initiatives, and a new daycare center within steps of the hospital to provide convenient, competent, and cost-effective care for employees’ children.

A new, pre-ball silent auction opened January 1, featuring items that include hotel stays, hair and makeup sessions, spray tan parties and more.

Valentine Ball ticket purchases must be made by January 13th to guarantee seating at a pre-ball dinner party. For more information about the Valentine Ball visit ValentineBall.org or the Beaufort Memorial Hospital Foundation at (843) 522-5774.

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Community members host guests for dinner parties like this one by Will and Mary Beth Donovan.

USCB's Dr. Erin McCoy Releases ‘A War Tour of Viet Nam’

Dr. Erin McCoy, Associate Professor of English and Interdisciplinary Studies at USCB, has released a new book titled A War Tour of Viet Nam. Based on extensive research and interviews, her book examines the cultural history of the Vietnam War and its lasting impact on the regions where it was fought. She examines commonly used in our kitchens; the popular songs as vehicles ‘vulgaris’ in a botanical name means for expressing ideas about ‘common’ or ‘widespread.’ race, patriotism, protest and other defining concepts of thymol, an oil used as an antiseptic. the Vietnam War era. Part Before the advent of modern antibiotics, history, part travelogue, her it was used to medicate bandages, new work reveals that – 50 and is still used commercial products years after it ended – the such as Listerine. war’s legacy is very much alive in the places where it varieties of thyme, and many of those was fought and in the mem- can be used in garden as ornamentals ories of those who survived and for kitchen use. The culinary it. The 206-page book varieties are evergreen, so we should includes photographs taken use more of them. by McCoy during her research trips and touches origin. They prefer the hot, dry and

on North and South Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Australia, and the United States. It is available on mcfarlandbooks.com, Amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com For more information contact: Erin McCoy at EMCCOY@uscb.edu or 843-208-8365 USCB’s Erin McCoy at Ha Long Bay near the Gulf of Tonkin