The Hillsboro Argus tells it like it is…our annual Gala Auction and Dinner is all about students from Washington County High Schools and Bag&Baggage’s mission to ensure that every student has access to free tickets to our shows! Read the article online here!

 

Bag&Baggage Fifth Anniversary Gala Dinner and Auction will raise money for student program

I

f it wasn’t for the students, Bag&Baggage Productions wouldn’t be having their annual Dinner Gala and Auction on July 13, capping their fifth season as Hillsboro’s professional theater company.

Since the group’s inception, Bag&Baggage has had the TEN4ONE program, allowing high school students from ten schools in Washington County to attend Bag&Baggage shows free of charge, along with providing educational materials for classrooms.

Bag&Baggage Artistic Director Scott Palmer initially started the program when he saw the number of school arts programs dropped due to budget cuts.

“I don’t want to be part of a community that doesn’t do something about it,” Palmer said. “Every single student deserves the right to experience professional performing arts.”

Due to two additional grants from Standard Insurance and the PGE Foundation totaling $10,500, Bag&Baggage will be able to extend the program to more than 25 high schools in the county, more than doubling the number of schools from previous years.

To raise awareness and funds for the program, attendees of the Gala Dinner and Auction will be able to look back on the last five seasons of Bag&Baggage productions as actors don costumes of favorite characters. For the evening entertainment, the actors plan to do a 15-minute medley of greatest hits from the shows.

Palmer described it as a museum tour of Bag&Baggage past.

The dinner, featuring a menu of local ingredients, will be followed by live and silent auctions, with all proceeds going to the TEN4ONE program.

The Gala Dinner and Auction will begin at 5 p.m. on Saturday, July 13 at Garden Vineyards Farm at 22380 N.W. Meier Rd., Hillsboro. Tickets for the event are limited and cost $85. For more information and ticket availability, visitwww.bagnbaggage.com.

— Taylor Smith