PACA in-person celebration canceled, moved to virtual

Taylor Six, Richmond Register, Ky.
·2 min read

Aug. 24—The 50th anniversary celebration of the Pattie A. Clay Auxiliary (PACA) Ball has been canceled.

In a Facebook post on Monday morning, the PACA Board made their announcement to cancel due to COVID-19 concerns.

"Due to the increase in COVID-19 cases in our community, the PACA Charity Ball Committee has made the difficult decision to cancel the 50th Annual PACA Golden Gala of Hope on Sept. 11 at White Hall State Historic Site," the post read.

It continued that while this decision was not taken lightly, PACA officials feel it's the best decision to help protect the health and wellness of the community.

However, they stated they wanted to remain committed to celebrating 50 years of PACA and the Junior Hostesses.

On Sunday, Aug. 29, the PACA Boards invites the community and supporters of PACA to join virtually to host the 50th Annual PACA Golden Gala of Hope — Junior Hostess Celebration at 4:30 p.m. via the PACA Charity Ball Facebook page LIVE.

"This is an opportunity for you to join us as we celebrate and recognize the Junior Hostesses and their commitment to fulfilling their philanthropic responsibilities required as part of the program," the post said.

The PACA Ball is a tradition for locals and serves as a fundraiser to benefit Baptist Health Richmond, donating the money raised to different services in the hospital. This year's department chosen for the donations is the Behavioral Health Clinic.

This is the second year in a row the in-person event has been canceled and reformatted to be virtually conducted.

In pre-COVID-19 years, the event is held the weekend before Father's Day in June. However, because of previous COVID-19 concerns, the board decided to hold off until the fall in the hopes of continuing in-person. But Monday the final decision was made to cancel.

PACA supporters will be contacted personally to learn more about refund options for this year's Ball, according to board members.

This is one of several major Madison County events to be canceled among others due to the recent rise in COVID-19 cases due to the delta variant. In addition to PACA, the Hope's Wings Evening of Hope was canceled, as well as the Battle of Richmond Civil War Reenactment.