12th annual YMCA Winter Gala
The expansive lobby of the 4Seasons is quite the sight to behold. Costumed revelers stream in, making their way down the hallway that leads to the conference and ballrooms. The crowd is dressed in the garb of the 1920s and 30s, with varying degrees of authenticity. Women wearing faux pearl necklaces and flappers mix with men decked out in suspenders and fedoras. Voluminous zoot suits clash with folks dressed as classic train hopping hobos.
A velvet rope cuts the flow in the hall before two ballrooms, opposite each other. At the rope are an older black man in a double breasted suit totting a tommy-gun and three college aged boys, dressed as 30's thugs stand. The boys collect donations from arriving guests and hand out gambling money while the older gentleman asking for the secret password. Everyone gets in eventually, those without the password are playfully questioned about being a 'snitch' and 'G-Man.'
The two largest of the hotel's ballrooms, which face each other, have been transformed for the event. In the first, a buffet and tables are laid out for party goers to experience the culinary wonders of Mrs. Rosemary. Captain Blood and The Jazz Singer are projected without sound on the walls of the room and live jazz music is supplied by the hotel's entertainment staff. FDR election posters are side beside mug shots of the likes of John Dillenger and Al Capone. Part of the room is left completely open. a small sign indicates it will be the location of prize auctions later on in the night. Some couples use the area to dance to the live music.
The second room is far more lively. A bar runs along one of the walls, manned by several bartenders. Roulette and Black Jack tables dominate half room, manned by a mix of college aged kids in varying degrees of period garb. The other half the room is a dance floor, classic era bands like the Benny Goodman Orchestra and the all female Blue Bells are played by a DJ in the corner, mixed in are contemporary sounds like Big Bad Voodoo Daddy and Matt Dusk. Posters of bootlegers and rum runners dot the walls.
YMCA members, local business owners and a variety of philanthropists mingle in the rooms. Otto Fishcer the evenings MC, zoot suited and armed with a dirty martini, meanders the gambling room. The Beast mingles with the more finely dressed party goers entertaining them with a very authentic sounding 30s dialect. Little do any of the humans he speaks with know that he had actually gown up in the 30s and the evening was one big nostalgia party for him.