Betsy Young Dinner on Thursday Offers Food, Fun, Music and Santa

The Betsy Young Memorial Fund will hold its third annual Benefit Dinner 5 to 8 p.m. Nov. 21 at the Ocean City Intermediate School.

Johnson's Popcorn is the official sponsor of the event.

The cost is $12 for adults and $8 for students/children. Menu includes Caesar salad, Baked Rigatoni (from Luigi's), Chicken Tenders (from Boyar's Market). Vegetable Medley (from Arlene's on Asbury), Desserts, Coffee, Hot Chocolate and more!

WAYV-FM 95.1 will provide music from 5 to 7 p.m. with special guest Jennifer Knight! The radio personality will meet with guests and play today's hits.

Santa Claus will visit the dinner guests from 6 to 8 p.m. Children may sit with Santa and will receive a candy cane. Santa is provided by The Ocean City Emporium located at 939 Asbury Avenue.

From 6:30 to 7 p.m., the Ocean City Fire Department will attend, showing off their mustaches for Movember. Movember is a worldwide initiative to raise money for testicular and prostate cancers. The fire department supports this cause by shaving off any existing mustaches on Nov. 1 growing a mustache for the first time, or regrowing a mustache. Participating firemen will attend and collect donations. The fireman with the most votes for Best Mustache ($1 donation/vote) will receive a $50 donation from the memorial fund. Each person that donates will get a faux 'stache of their own.

At 7 p.m., local band Diamonds & Rust will take the stage, performing everything from classics to holiday hits.

Each guest will receive a party favor from Johnson's Popcorn, and four random, lucky guests will get a VIP book of 10 tickets to Gillian's Wonderland Pier.

Proceeds fund Project Inspiration and the Betsy Young Scholarship. Betsy was the instrumental music teacher at Ocean City Intermediate School. In 2010, she was diagnosed with Glioblastoma, and died in August 2011.

Betsy had a love for music and her career. Two times per year she presented the community with wonderful band concerts. Our goal for Project Inspiration is to upgrade the auditorium at the school.

Students will be able to perform in a more professional setting with an upgraded sound system and acoustic paneling placed around the room. We hope this will "inspire" students to become involved or stay involved in band and choir.

Additionally, two beautiful pieces of art will be placed on both sides of the stage. The pieces will be from local artist and friend of Betsy's, Nancy Palermo. This will "inspire" students to become involved or stay involved with art classes and goals.

To complete the upgrade, a plaque of dedication to Betsy Young will be placed for all to read about her legacy.

The Betsy Young Memorial Fund also hopes to host a Week of Inspiration filled with classes for students in acting, art, and dance studies. In addition, they also hope to bring a local Philadelphia spots athlete to the school for a presentation.

Currently the project is accepting donations and is working on finalizing the project. An estimate shows that the project will cost between $7,000-$10,000 and will be installed before September 2014.

As always, the Betsy Young Memorial Fund will also give out a scholarship to Ocean City High School students in June.

Questions can be forwarded to betsyyoungmemorialfund@gmail.com.

— News release from the Betsy Young Memorial Fund