Wednesday. March 7, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER C1 I M ercedes-B enz Arts & Entertainment Oakville Beaver A&E Editor: Carol Baldwin 845-3824 (Ext 254); Fax: 337-5567; E-mail: baldwin@haltonsearch.com M Z . 2 Z . When you wish upon a star... Cinderella type ball raises thousands By Carol Baldwin ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR Cinderella and Prince Charming may not have been in attendance, but the ball was a smashing success anyway. Last Friday, a gala dinner/dance at Oakville's Galaxy Club raised over $13,000 to help dancers from the Goggin School of Irish Traditional Dance compete in the world competitions in Ireland next month. "The theme was 'Wish Upon a Star,' with the thought that the eleven dancers were our stars and we are sending them off with our best wishes," says Barb Goggin, owner of the Goggin School of Irish Traditional Dance, with studios in Oakville and Windsor. "The Galaxy was sort of turned into a magic kingdom. It was dressed in the nines, with "They organized this with the thought o fhelping the dancers financially and emotionally. We' ll definitely be doing it again nextyear because it was such a great success. " every table having a glass slipper centre piece. Quite a lot of the committee (consist ing of volunteer parents) were dressed in ball gowns and got right into the theme of it." The 215 guests paid $40 to attend this formal event, which included a catered buf-. fet dinner and dancing to music provided by a deejay. But guests also had the opportunity Photos by E rin Riley Top right: Shelley Morrison, 16, (left) and Andrea Palen, 15, of the Goggin School of Irish Traditional Dance, wait for the dancing to begin at a special fund-raising dinner in the 707 Galaxy Club last Friday. Morrison can also been seen above through two other dancers as she goes through one last practice before the performance. to participate in a silent auction, to purchase stars with accompanying prizes, to have their portrait taken, and to buy raffle tickets for bottles of wine as well as for a 50/50 draw. Hence, the whopping return for the competitive dancers. Judy McCormack, one of the volunteer parents, came up with the idea and spear headed the committee, along with Jackie Chapman, to execute the concept. "They organized this with the thought of helping the dancers financially and emotion ally," Goggin explains. "We'll definitely be doing it again next year because it was such a great success." In fact, says McCormack, this year's fundraiser topped previous ones by about $ 10,000 . (See `Irish' on page C2) C l a s s ic WE NEED ROOM FOR 01112001 STOCK! L O W E S T P R IC E S E V E li! ON "2000" SPAS, PATIO FURNITURE, & PATIO TABLEWARE SEE STORE FO ll DETAILS. Family fools r io n e e r M 1020 South Service Rd (E. of Trafalgar) 844-7490