Press Contacts:
Anna Dooley
398-5757
amdooley@bellsouth.net
Robin Patton
904-343-6378
rbnsnest@yahoo.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Root Ball 2018: Irish for a Day, Green all Year
Jacksonville, FL – February 16, 2018 – For the first time in seven years, Greenscape of Jacksonville is pulling up the roots of its largest fundraiser of the year and returning to The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens for the annual Root Ball.
Held on Saturday, March 17, 2018, the Root Ball, produced by the Late Bloomers Garden Club, has as its theme “Irish For A Day, Green All Year.”
According to Anna Dooley, executive director of Greenscape, the organization made the change in venue for several reasons. “We think the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens is the perfect backdrop for promoting our mission of planting, protecting and promoting trees,” she says. “And we’ve also been told that in addition to the wonderful exotic animals living at the zoo, several leprechauns are rumored to live there too. There may even be a pot of gold.”
Tying the event in with St. Patrick’s Day will add another level of fun, Dooley says. Irish musician/songwriter (and Jacksonville transplant) Brendan Doherty, will perform traditional Irish songs as well as original songs from his last album, “Feels Like Home,” which Irish Music Magazine’s Seán Laffey said, “If you need a label to describe his style, think John Denver at his very best.” Doherty will be accompanied on fiddle by Philip Pan, former concertmaster for the Jacksonville Symphony and member of Canary in a Coalmine. Pan currently performs with folk/rock band Folk is People and Mariachi Primera Costa.
The festivities begin at 6:30 p.m. with cocktails, festive food, music, dancing and a silent auction featuring a variety of original artwork, fine wines, gift baskets, a putter autographed by Arnold Palmer and a catered yacht cruise on Innisfail, an impeccably restored 1930 Mathis-Trumpy motor yacht that hosted several U.S. presidents.
Tickets are $130 per person and are available here or through 904tix.com. Attire is “green casual.”
A portion of the funds raised at the event will be used to purchase and replant trees throughout the city that were damaged and destroyed as a result of Hurricane Irma last year.
Featured Musicians:
Brendan Doherty
Philip Pan
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About Greenscape and Late Bloomers Garden Club:
In 1975, joined by their desire to improve the Jacksonville landscape, a small group of citizens began the not-for-profit organization Greenscape of Jacksonville, Inc. and today is credited with over 350,000 trees added to our local canopy.
Late Bloomers Garden Club, founded in 1990, is a member of The Garden Club of America, and the Garden Club of Jacksonville and contributes to the community through its civic projects and grants
Since 2007, the Late Bloomers Garden Club has partnered with Greenscape of Jacksonville, Inc. to produce the Root Ball, a fundraiser to help raise awareness of the importance of trees in Jacksonville and to assist in the support of Jacksonville’s only tree planting organization.