Don't miss out on Midnight at the Masquerade

By Laurie Gordon
FREDON -- Midnight at the Masquerade, a mystery dinner, will be held at Brook Hollow Winery, in Columbia, NJ, on Saturday, March 24 to benefit the Fredon Education Foundation and the children of the Fredon Township Elementary School. Tickets are going fast for this very unique event.
The event is being organized by Krystal Beck and Christina Coranoto-Conklin as part of the Fredon Education Foundation.
"The Fredon Education Foundation Board wanted a fun, engaging event for the parents of the school that allowed them to have an evening out with their friends and family,” said Coranoto-Conklin. “ Of course the focus is fund-raising to provide educational opportunities for our children. We also wanted it to be a rewarding night for our parents because we all work hard support our school.”
In additon to Coranoto-Conklin and Beck, Julie Strong is helping with the event as well as members of the Fredon Education Foundation who are assisting with collecting donations for the silent auction.
“We also want to mention our teachers, they are helping to get the silent auction items for each of the classes Pre K – sixth grades<' Coranoto-Conklin said. “Also the Administration has been so supportive of all our ideas.”
The Fredon Education Foundation has become locally famous for some really original fund-raising ideas. They've done Casino Nights and the like in the past.
“The Masquerade Theme provides the night out we wanted to achieve,” Coranoto-Conklin said. “Its fun to get dressed up every now and again.”
One challenge was selecting the location.
“We put a list of venues together, made some calls and from the moment we contacted Brook Hollow,” Coranoto-Conklin said. “Jessica Ritter has been accommodating, helpful and informative.The Fredon Education Foundation has been so glad that we partnered with the winery. We also wanted to consider proximity for our guests. Its about a 20 minute ride from Fredon.”
Cost to attend is $45 per person and there will be a cash bar. There will be prizes for the best-dressed male, female and couple. Proceeds will go to continue to support the educational opportunities for children at the Fredon School.
Through out this year, The Fredon Education Foundation has funded the TREPS Market Place, a children’s author is to visit on February 20thy, the Playbill for the play Beauty and the Beast (March 15th and16th) along with summer programs such as garden club, hobby club, Quittish (Harry Potter) and more.
Planning for Midnight at the Masquerade began last summer.
“We met as a team and started talking about idea’s and what the Foundatkion wanted to achieve,” Coranoto-Conklin said. “We considered venues, cost per person, do you have a tricky tray or a silent auction and the list continued on. By our second board meeting we finalized our ideas and hired the Murder Mystery Company from NYC. This is a group of actors and actresses that will apart of the majority of the evening.”
Murder mystery parties with The Murder Mystery Co. are crafted to make a one-of-a-kind experience that is perfect for any event! Everyone gets involved in the schemes concocted by our highly skilled mystery crew, and each party is guaranteed to have something for everyone.
People are to dress up as if they were going to a masquerade. There are lots of great ideas on the internet to help with the attire, and there will be masks for sale at the event if anyone forgets for $3.
Tickets are available for purchase through an online link on the Fredon School Website, click on ticket sales, https://sites.google.com/fredoneducationalfoundation.org/fef/home or by emailing kbeck@fredoneducationalfoundation.org. The organizers are also working with Brook Hollow for ticket sales and advertising, and the event is open to the public.
If you goWhat: Midnight at the Masquerade
When: Saturday, March 24, 2018
Where: Brook Hollow Winery in Columbia, NJ
Who: You, Friends, and Family
Why: Support the children of Fredon Township School
Contact: Krystal Beck(kbeck@fredoneducationalfoundation.org)
and Christina Coranoto-Conklin(cconklin@fredoneducationalfoundation.org).