News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu Spring 2004 news releases Public Information home News archive Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 1/10/05   Click on image for publication quality photo  UP IN LIGHTS AT THE COLUMBIA -- The Jan. 22 Deco Ball, a gala evening at Southeastern Louisiana University’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts, will raise funds to add a marquee to the historic theater’s facade. This architectural rendering by Holly and Smith Architects gives an idea of what the marquee might look like. COLUMBIA’S JAN. 22 “DECO BALL” TO FUND THEATER MARQUEE      HAMMOND -- With the goal of putting coming attractions “up in lights,” Southeastern Louisiana University’s Columbia Theatre for the Performing Arts is hosting a gala ball to raise funds for a marquee for the historic downtown Hammond theater.      Organizers of the Columbia’s “Deco Ball,” scheduled for 7-11 p.m., Jan. 22, are planning an evening that will be festive and fun -- all for a good cause, said Columbia Director Donna Gay Anderson.      “A theater without a marquee is like a stadium without a scoreboard,” Anderson said. “We know from talking with colleagues in the League of Historic American Theaters that a marquee is a must for marketing our productions.”      Polly Durham and Harriet Vogt of Hammond are chairing the community committee that has been planning the ball for six months. Vogt, former longtime director of Fanfare, the October arts festival that opens the Columbia Theatre season, said the Deco Ball idea originated with Howard Nichols, a retired Southeastern history professor and member of the Columbia Theatre board.       “I thought it was a wonderful idea since I had experienced a similar party at a theater when I lived in Germany,” Vogt said. She said the gala event will feature dancing on the Columbia stage to music by the Dominoes, partying throughout the theater complex, and food and beverages by Coy’s Catering.      “It’s going to be a fun party, an opportunity to dress up and have a really good time for a worthy cause,” she said. “The decorations are going to be glamorous, the food is going to be wonderful, and there will also be several fun ‘surprise’ activities.”      Tickets for the Deco Ball are $100 a person and can be obtained by calling or visiting the Columbia Theatre office, 220 E. Thomas St., 985-543-4366. Patrons can also reserve a table for eight for $1,000. Anderson said the Columbia has worked with Holly and Smith Architects, the Hammond firm that designed the theater’s renovation, to devise a marquee that will compliment the historic character of Hammond’s downtown district. The computerized, lighted marquee, which would be visible from East Thomas and South Cherry Streets, is estimated to cost $75,000.       In addition to Vogt and Durham, Deco Ball committee members are Anderson, Nichols, Marjorie Morrison, Bonnie Sue Barrilleaux, Pat Mason, Tonya Lowentritt, Nelie Durham, Carol Knott, Jackie Griffith, Patty Hubert, Pete Pfeil, Virginia Adelmann, Doug DuBois, John Szeto, and Katie Wainwright.       For additional information about the Deco Ball, contact the Columbia at 985-543-4366.