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Snowflake Ball Returns to Beverly Thanks to Efforts of The Next Generation

By Howard Ludwig | January 21, 2014 6:50am
 The Snowflake Ball returns to the Beverly Country Club on Jan. 25 for the second year. The formal party dates to the 1970s.
Snowflake Ball Returns
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BEVERLY — The Snowflake Ball is not your parents' party, but the previous generation certainly deserves some credit.

The formal ball returns on Saturday to the Beverly Country Club. Doors of the private club at 8700 S. Western Ave. open at 7:30 p.m. and will remain open for hors d'oeuvres, drinks and dancing until 11:30 p.m. Tickets cost $75.

The Snowflake Ball was resurrected in 2012 after a seven-year hiatus, said Matt Walsh, executive director of the Beverly Area Planning Association.

"I just think the attendance had fallen off, and the event appeared to have run its course," Walsh said of the formal ball that dates to the mid-1970s.

A committee was formed in 2012 to discuss fundraising for the association. While brainstorming events aimed at attracting younger families, several committee members suggested bringing back the Snowflake Ball. Many of them remembered their parents heading off to the event dressed in fancy clothes while they stayed home with a baby sitter, Walsh said.

Some 350 people attended the event in its first year back. Organizers expect attendance to increase this year as the party has been moved from from early December to Jan. 25.

"There were a lot of business parties and holiday obligations at that time of year," Walsh said.

Holly Sutker of Morgan Park attended the last Snowflake Ball in December 2012. She's thrilled it has returned and even considered postponing shoulder surgery in order to attend the event this year.

She said most people remember the Snowflake Ball being held at center court of The Plaza at 95th Street and Western Avenue in Evergreen Park. The now-shuttered mall hosted the Snowflake Ball for years before it was moved to Saint Xavier University in Mount Greenwood.

"I went to it with friends when we were in our 20s. It was in the big opening in the middle of the mall with the escalator working and people going up and down. There was a band and so much fun," Sutker said.

Walsh said he's even heard tales of a forklift filled with White Castle hamburgers arriving in the mall's atrium to feed hungry partygoers after midnight.

He hopes the next generation continues to embrace the Snowflake Ball with this same enthusiasm.

"It was a great time last year, and we expect for it to be a great time this year as well," he said.