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Tickets on sale for St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Dance

3 min read

Looking for some St. Patrick’s Day fun? There’s a Pre-St. Patrick’s Day Dinner & Dance this Saturday -?and it will help support two great area organizations working for a common cause.

The event, to held Saturday, March 16, at Fort Myers Beach Shine Club, 19171 San Carlos Blvd., is hosted by Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida Veterans Services and SWFL Military Museum & Library.

Doors will open at 5 p.m. and the traditional Irish dinner will be served at 6 p.m. A cash bar will be available.

“We are hosting it on Saturday night so people still have Sunday to celebrate with the parades,” Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. spokesperson Susan Hegarty said.

Tickets are $35 for one and $65 for a pair. Tickets can be purchased at www.goodwillswfl.org/ stpatricksday, or by visiting SWFL Military Museum at 4820 Leonard St., or by calling 239-541-8704 ext. 41, or 239-887-1639.

Hegarty said they prefer pre-registration so they can order the right amount of food.

“To ensure you get fed, it’s always a good idea to register in advance,” Hegarty said.

The event, which is set for 5 to 10 p.m., alo will feature a big picture frame, allowing people to come dressed as leprechauns. Hegarty said, laughing, that leprechauns are impossible to catch.

“So we are going to capture them on people’s phones,” Hegarty said.

The 17-piece band, Memory Makers, will provide the entertainment for everyone to get up and dance.

Norman Love also will be among the entertainers doing sing-a-longs, as well as telling Irish jokes and Irish storytelling.

A 50/50 raffle will be held. Attendees will also have an opportunity to purchase a shamrock on a stick for $1. She said they can write a note on the shamrock for a veteran.

The shamrocks will be placed in a flowerpot and placed on tables at the SWFL Military Museum & Library during their Tuesday meal, which includes veterans who are homeless.

“All of these wonderful veteran messages will be in the flowerpots to take and read and enjoy as their centerpiece,” Hegarty said of the military meal.

She said they have a gentleman at Goodwill that manages programs and services for veterans. He knows the executive director of the foundation that supports the museum and suggested that the two organizations work together.

“This particular event is a fundraiser for both veteran service organizations, so we can do the good work that we do for veterans, and they can do the good work,” she said. “We hope to raise a lot of funds for veteran services, We know there are a lot of them and a lot of them are coming back.”