BOCA RATON, Fla (February 1, 2016) The Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton was presented a 2016 Bernays Award for Best Special Event by the Gold Coast PR Council (GCPRC) for the Club’s 2015 Inaugural Boca Raton Mayors Ball. The Club’s vision, debut and presentation for the sold-out first time Mayors Ball has established itself as the city’s newest coveted annual social season opener. GCPRC is South Florida’s largest independent group of PR, Marketing and Communications professionals.
Because of the Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton’s conception, pre-event marketing, public relations, community engagement, media relations and sponsor outreach/collaboration and event planning more than 400 Boca stakeholders and visionaries were on hand for all the ‘pomp and circumstance’ of the first-time ever Boca Raton Mayors Ball that has now made its indelible mark as the newest coveted annual social season opener. In the esteemed Mayors Ball tradition of other iconic cities as Palm Beach, Miami and Ft. Lauderdale — complete with a red carpet arrival and on-the-spot Academy Awards-style interviews — drew Boca Raton’s ‘Who’s Who’ civic, business, tourism, community and philanthropic stakeholders and visionaries – past and present – spanning more than five decades of commitment and contributions.
Celebrating the City’s long, rich history, attendees at the gala black-tie dinner/dance at Broken Sound Club toasted to ‘all that is great’ in Boca Raton and danced the night away as the evening honored the elected officials who exemplify Rotary International’s motto, ‘Service Above Self’ and recognized the City’s visionaries who have elevated the community nationally and around the globe. The event raised $83,000 start-up monies to launch the Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton’s new grant program that funds the health and wellness needs of Boca Raton nonprofits.
While raising awareness of the “service above self’ mission that the all-volunteer Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton provides its community, the event recognized honorees with the inaugural George E. Long Awards named for Boca’s first mayor. Presented in three categories for accomplished work in promoting Boca Raton as a great place to live, work, play, educate and visit, the outstanding individual recipient was Barb Schmidt, the non–profit organization was American Association for Caregiving Youth and for-profit organization was the Marmot Boca Raton Bowl. The annual event will continue to recognize its succession of Mayors as stewards of Boca Raton from 1924 to the present.
According to Mayors Ball Co-Chair who serves as current Club President Jon Kaye, the mission of the recently named 2014-2015 District 6930 ‘Rotary Club of the Year’ is to make a difference in our community by enhancing the lives of many in an environment that embraces and promotes integrity, friendship, camaraderie and trust.
“While the Mayor’s Ball each year will fund the Club’s grant program, the Club also presents the ‘Annual Honor Your Doctor’ Luncheon, this year on March 31, 2016, that was founded by Helen M. Babione to recognize physician leadership and excellence in healthcare while raising scholarship monies for medical and nursing students at the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing at Florida Atlantic University, Lynn University, Palm Beach State College and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine at Florida Atlantic University.
The Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton is one of Rotary International’s 34,000 clubs in more than 200 countries that connect 1.2 million Rotarians with diverse cross-sections of thought and action leaders and stakeholders, link diverse perspectives and build lasting relationships to take action in communities at home and around the globe.
For more information on the Rotary Club Downtown Boca Raton and the 2016 Boca Raton Mayor Ball, visit www.rotarydowntownbocaraton.org or call 561-299-1429.
