Features Editor

The Colley Senior Complex Gala may not get off to the flaming start it did last year, but it promises to be one of the biggest events of the year.

Mary Ann Casey, director of the senior complex, said David Holmes has his gyrocopter up and flying again after it crashed and burned at last year’s Gala, but said he won’t do an encore performance.

"Last year was our first Gala to support the Colley Senior Complex and it was fun, profitable – and exciting," Casey said. We expect this year’s Gala to be even more fun.

The Gala is planned for May 4 at Troy Country Club and tickets are $25 per person.

"The Gala was well attended last year and we really needed more room," Casey said. "This year we will have a tent on site to better accommodate the crowd."

The Gala is a black-tie optional affair and many people

take this opportunity to dress to the nines. Others choose to dress down in less formal attire, but the Gala is a special and festive event and everyone treats it as such.

"Our first Gala was very successful," Casey said. "The music was big and Ray Smith’s Combo will be back again this year. Everyone loved their music and we are looking forward to having them back and dancing to the music we all know and love."

"Heavy, heavy" hors d’oeuvres will be served and ice sculptures will rival those on cruise ships. The Colley Senior Complex Gala will be a night to remember.

Because the Gala is a fund raising event for the senior complex, there will be additional opportunities to support the senior center by participating in the silent auction.

"The Colley Senior Complex is a foundation," Casey said. "We are a non-profit organization and are subsidized by the City of Troy, but we do have needs other than what is provided for us. We try not to charge our seniors for anything that isn’t absolutely necessary. They do pay for the materials they need in, for example, painting and pottery, but we try not to charge them other than that."

The items that will be available through the silent auction include, paintings by local artists, trips and miscellaneous items. All proceeds from the auction will benefit the Colley Senior Complex.

The complex offers classes in fiction and poetry writing, oil painting, drawing, sculpture, pottery, ceramics, quilting, dancing, exercise and piano and accordion lessons. The barber shop chorus meets at the complex, as do the quilting, writing and pottery guilds, in which the seniors provide their own leadership.

"We also have workshops of various kinds and opportunities for games and fellowship," Casey said. "The Colley Senior Complex is always busy with activity and it is a wonderful place for our seniors. So, we encourage everyone to support our seniors by attending our Gala event. Not only will you be supporting our seniors program, you will have a great time doing it."

For Gala ticket information, call the Colley Senior Complex at 808-8500.