THE WITCHES' BALL

Yesterday we presented a check to the Galveston Island Humane Society for $3000. That might not seem like a lot of money to some people, but it’s more than we could ever give on our own. In fact it took a whole community of friends to make this happen.

It started with a conversation between Kimberley and I one day towards the end of August. Our idea was to have a fundraiser that would serve to raise money for a good cause, promote the shop and have a fun event for our customers and the community. The obvious choice for The Witchery was to host a Witches’ Ball! Kim and I had decided a while back to narrow down our list of benefactors to animals and children (The latter probably from guilt associated with not having any). We decided to give to the Galveston Island Humane Society.

Location! Our loft above the shop was empty, but only about half done. The first thing we needed was electricity. I called my good friend and master electrician Chris who agreed to moonlight with some help from me. It took us about a week of working after hours to get it all done.

The kitchen cabinets had come with the purchase of the building they just hadn’t been installed. Another call to my friend and master carpenter, Andras, and we got the kitchen up in two days!

We would also need running water and a working toilet. Another favor from another good friend, Ray Flores, who just happens to be the best plumber in Galveston and we were in business!

Music! I paid a visit to Bubba at Island Music. “The Humane Society?” he said, “that’s where I got my dog! No problem!” He would donate the use of a pro sound system.

DJ! There was only one choice. Brandon Ragan had put together a mix for our neighborhood Halloween party the year before and everyone loved it. I called him up and he agreed to mix all night.

Food! We needed food. I asked my friend Steve Rennick from Mosquito Café if he could make some of his famous Crostinis for the party. “You can’t just serve crostinis,” he told me, “we’ll put together something special for you.”

Drinks! I went to Spec’s liquor and spoke with the manager about the possibility of them donating a portion or giving us a discount. All I needed to do was send an email to this person and I would get a response 30 days before the event. I never heard back. Something told me to keep it local so I went to Economy Liquor and talked to Seth. He calculated just the right amount of liquor to purchase for the event and threw in a keg of beer for free!

Advertising! I called the Parrot, everyone’s favorite newspaper. I asked Trey if he’d be willing to donate an ad for the Ball. “Of course we will!” How big of an ad can I have? “A full page!” he said. Wow!

I called The Islander magazine next. “Trey at the Parrot’s giving us a full page for free. Can you do something for us as well?” Done!

The ad would have to be really cool, so I called Will Wright from willthing, llc. The same Will that created our website. He didn’t even hesitate…“No problem, Clyde. Let me put something together for you.” Everyone loved it so much they wanted to buy the posters we put in the windows around town.

Tickets! I threw together a mockup of a ticket and took it over to Speedy’s Printing. I told Frank we were doing it for the Humane Society and he printed the tickets for free!

The only thing left was to sell the tickets. That wasn’t a problem at all. The first day tickets went on sale people were waiting for the store to open and within two weeks we were sold out! Our magickal community of friends and customers came together to celebrate Samhain (Halloween) and contribute to a great cause!

At the last minute our new friend Stephanie Vera agreed to perform a contortion show as a special surprise performance and what a show it was! Amazing!

I needed a uniformed police officer at the door and my Masonic Brother, Glen Mulvaney, offered his services at no charge.

We all had a fantastic time! The costumes were incredible, the food was delicious, the music had everyone dancing and our great bar staff kept the drinks flowing!

So you see? This little island has a lot of cool and caring people. Our shop has the best customers and I am blessed to have the most giving and loyal friends anyone could ever ask for and we all did it together!

I can’t wait until next year!

(To see the entire photo album courtesy of Bobby Weiss see The Witchery's facebook page)