Celebrity waiters delivered their dishes hot and fresh in order to raise more than $2,700 in tips for the Wills Memorial Hospital Auxiliary Oct. 10. The Celebrity Waiters Dinner hosted by the Wills Memorial Hospital Auxiliary on October 10 at Washington-Wilkes Comprehensive High School was a tremendous success. The purpose of the benefit was to raise money to fund Auxiliary projects at the hospital.

The Celebrity Waiters coordinated by Lefreda Adair included Washington Mayor Willie Burns, Wills Memorial Hospital administrative staff, Wills Memorial Hospital Foundation directors, business owners, and community leaders. Dressed in black and white, the local celebrities delivered delicious turkey and dressing meals to guests complete with dessert and coffee prepared by the high school food service staff. Over $2700 in tips was collected during the evening.

The theme for the dinner was "Something to Crow About." The entrance was decorated with hay bales, roosters, and a painted window depicting a crowing rooster. The admission table was covered with a teal cloth overlaid with bright red apron embroidered with a rooster. Inside the banquet area, tables were covered with teal table cloths and guests' places were marked with purple place mats and napkins in hot pink, bright yellow, red, electric blue, lime green, and orange. Brightly colored streamers flowed down the center of each table with roosters and red lanterns scattered along the streamers. The stage backdrop was white lattice with tins depicting musicians painted by Lincolnton artist Leonard Jones and were loaned for the event by "The Purple Palette" in Washington. The lattice was flanked with hay bales and roosters and ferns were on either end of the stage.

Entertainment was provided by Lizzie Long and Friends. Wills Memorial Hospital emer- gency room physician and pianist, Dr. Stan Coe, provided the dinner music. Washington attorney Michael Horgan served master of ceremonies pacing the evening and entertaining the crowd with witty remarks.

After dinner, drawings were held for the many door prizes donated by businesses and restaurants from the Washington-Wilkes area. Coe followed with a tribute to the first physicians who practiced at Wills Memorial Hospital and brought the audience up to date with the services now available through board certified local doctors and the hospital's affiliation with the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

Dr. Stan Coe provided dinner music for the Celebrity Waiters dinner. Coe then introduced the entertainment for the evening, Lizzie Long and Friends. Elizabeth "Lizzy" Long, originally from Lincolnton, currently lives in Nashville, Tennes- see. She was accompanied by Will Gay of Lincolnton and Al McCall, son of Representative and Mrs. Tom McCall of Elbert County. Little Roy Lewis of the famous Lewis Family of Lincolnton was the special guest star.

During the entertainment hour, the very musically talented gospel and country group was joined by Jimmy Justice, Esley Lewis, Amber Gay, and six-year old Bennett Boswell, Roy Lewis' grandson, all of whom gave fantastic performances which brought the audience to their feet several times.

Over 250 guests attended the benefit. The Wills Memorial Hospital Auxiliary wishes to express its sincere appreciation for the community's support of this and all of the events it conducts on behalf of the hospital. Anyone who would like to join the Auxiliary should call Pat Niemann at 706-678-9272.