By John Tredrea, Special Writer
LAMBERTVILLE — It’s a chance to have a rocking, swinging New Year’s Eve while helping improve and maintain a Lambertville park that is near and dear to many people.
The Diamonds and Ice Ball, sponsored by The Friends of Ely Park, will run from 9 p.m. Dec. 31 until 1 a.m. Jan. 1 at the David Rago Auction Center, at Lane and Main streets.
Mr. Rago is providing the venue at no charge to The Friends, said Jim Hamilton, a member of that group and owner of Hamilton’s Grill on Coryell Street.
At the ball, gourmet dinners will be provided by area chefs.
A signature “Ice Palace” cocktail and high-end beers and wines will accompany the dinner.
Music will come from the Ed Wilson Band and a DJ, Ujj.
There will be candles, chandeliers and an illuminated dance floor.
A champagne toast at midnight is on tap, as is a 1 a.m. brunch from Hamilton’s Grill.
All the food that will be served at the ball will be donated by area businesses, Mr. Hamilton said.
Tickets for the Diamonds and Ice Ball are $100 and can be purchased Hamilton’s Grill or the Homestead Market, on North Main Street.
”It’ll be a really good time,” Mr. Hamilton said. “We’ll have a benefit auction, too. We’ve got some really interesting items for people to bid on, including an African game preserve holiday, an oil painting by artist Bob Beck, Dinner at Prune (a top New York City restaurant), and tickets to the 10,000th performance of “The Phantom of the Opera” and more.
” We hope to sell 100 tickets to the ball,” said Mr. Hamilton,
Mr. Hamilton said the goal of the Friends of Ely Park is to provide $2 million worth of improvements to the park and, in addition, to cover the estimated $25,000 annual cost of maintaining the park.
”That way tax money wouldn’t have to pay for any of the maintenance,” he said.
Brick walls, benches, sculptures and a pavilion for concerts are part of The Friends’ vision of a revitalized Ely Park.
Special thanks are being given to Mr. Rago and Suzanne Perrault, nationally known “Antiques Roadshow” appraisers, for hosting this event.
