An Evening for ABAC set for Feb. 22

A fantastic night of food, fun, dancing, casino games and supporting student scholarships will take place at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College’s annual “An Evening for ABAC” on Saturday, February 22.

The event, which will be held at the Tifton Campus Conference Center, will include cocktails, a fabulous dinner, live auction, Las Vegas casino games and entertainment featuring DJ Aaron Elya.

ABAC Director of Alumni and Special Events Lynda Fisher, the coordinator for this year’s event, said the night is one of the college’s highlight events each year.

“This year’s event will have a Las Vegas feel to it, and we encourage all to come prepared to be high rollers,” Fisher said.

The event provides over $100,000 in scholarships for the Baldwin Scholars program annually. The Baldwin Scholars program was originally established in 1985 and was known as the ABAC Foundation Scholars. It has provided over a million dollars in scholarships to ABAC students.

“We are grateful for our sponsors and donors each year as they support scholarships for worthy students,” Fisher said. “Over $130,000 was raised last year at this event for scholarships, but we hope to top that this year.”

Tickets for An Evening for ABAC are $150 for singles and $275 for couples. A portion of the ticket price is tax deductible. For tickets, interested people can visit www.abac.edu/evening or call (229) 391-4895. Attendees may also use the link to purchase tables and tickets. The deadline to purchase tickets is February 13. After that date, anyone interested can call (229) 391-4900 for availability.

Event sponsors are vital to the success of An Evening for ABAC. Sponsorship levels include the Legacy Sponsor level for $25,000 which sponsors six scholarships and a private reception with scholarship recipients, Summa Cum Laude for $20,000, which sponsors six scholarships, Magna Cum Laude for $15,000 which sponsors five scholarships, Cum Laude for $10,000 which sponsors four scholarships, President’s List for $5,000 which sponsors two scholarships and Dean’s List for $2,500 which sponsors one scholarship. Also, reserved tables for eight patrons are available for $1,750.

Each sponsorship level comes with a variety of attractive opportunities. Those interested in finding out more information about those levels or sponsoring the event can contact ABAC’s Office of Advancement at (229) 391-4900 or foundation@abac.edu.

Leading the list of sponsors are the Colquitt Regional Medical Center, Southwell, and the Bostelman Family at the Legacy Sponsor Level.

The event has a rich history, dating back to 1972 when the ABAC Foundation sponsored a fundraiser featuring Anita Bryant to complete the funding for the Chapel of All Faiths. One year later, the foundation sponsored a second event with country music star Eddie Arnold and the annual Dollars for Scholars program was born.

Dollars for Scholars was a popular annual attraction featuring entertainers such as Ronnie Milsap, the Temptations, Marie Osmond, Ray Stevens, Louise Mandrell and Helen Reddy. Trisha Yearwood attracted the largest Dollars for Scholars crowd in 2006 with an audience of over 1,800 fans. The ABAC Foundation changed the name of the event to An Evening for ABAC in 2008 and focused its efforts entirely on raising funds for scholarships.