‘A Night on Broadway’ fundraiser set

HURON — For the third consecutive year ‘dinner and a show’ will take on a little bit different meaning, when the curtain goes up on the annual “Snowflakes and Sweets,” fundraiser for the Plus One Guidance Center in Huron.
And for the third year, Huron’s Callee (Bauman) Wachter will be wearing multiple hats of producer/host/performer at the event. This year’s theme is “A Night on Broadway.” The evening of tasty treats and entertainment is set to begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 20, in the Huron Fine Arts Center.
Tickets are $25 and are available at Dakotaland Federal Credit Union or online at plusonehuron.org. There are no bad seats in the theater, but there are a limited number of them.
“It got started a little over three years ago,” Wachter said as she worked on details for this year’s show. “Mary Helen Wipf, who operates Plus One, asked me if I would be able to lend a hand at a fundraiser they were planning. The brainstorming started and the idea for Snowflakes and Sweets was born.”
The fundraiser is the main one for the center, which offers assistance, counseling and education to women and couples facing unplanned pregnancies, to help them make the best choices for themselves and their unborn children.
“There is a $35,000 goal for fundraising,” Wachter said, “which will keep the doors open, the lights on, and will allow for the Center to offer services all year.” Since it began work, offering assistance to moms and newborns, the Plus One Center has been able to expand and offer services up to youth up to 2-years old. Wachter said that this year, the Center is also seeking to add commitments from individuals and businesses on a pledge basis, for ongoing expenses, as well as finding more female volunteers to counsel and assist its clients.
“The thought was to offer a fundraising experience that was different from others,” Wachter said. “There was a discussion about a banquet or a silent auction, but having the combination of a variety of specially prepared desserts and an evening of stage entertainment was the direction chosen.”

She said that the first year was really done on the fly. She didn’t know all of the performers participating in the show and “pretty much came up with the order of the show” during dress rehearsal.
“I worked within the parameters of Snowflakes and Sweets,” she said. The first year came together smoothly, then got postponed by a winter storm. When it did take place it got a good reception.
“The show was a success,” Wachter said, “or at least enough of a success that they asked me to do it again last year!”
Last year’s show had a Grand Ole Opry theme and Wachter is seeking to build upon two-years success for “A Night on Broadway.”
“It’s really a unique event,” Wachter said. “The lobby of the Fine Arts Center is decorated so beautifully and the sweets - which are created for the event - are wonderful. I have done some sampling and everything I tried was delicious.”
After the “Sweets” portion of the evening, the entertainment moves into the Fine Arts Center Theater, where the performers will take the audience down memory lane with a plethora of well-known hits from the Broadway stage.
“Most of the performers are from the area or have a connection to Huron,” Wachter said of the list of talent which includes her and her husband Jonathon Wachter, Brandon Wipf, Cameron Schroder, Jake and Carolyn Geis, Katy Hines, Hannah Glanzer and Ethel Diggs to name a few.
“I believe that we are drawing from 15 different musicals,” Wachter said. She is presenting excerpts from ‘Phantom of the Opera,’ ‘My Fair Lady,’ and other well-known shows.
Attendees will also recognize songs from ‘The Sound of Music,’ ‘Annie,’ ‘You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown,’ ‘Rent,’ and ‘Wicked,’ to name just a few.
“Everyone will recognize the music,” Wachter said. “They will be singing along and tapping their toes! And that is by design.”
“It is so much fun to put together and work to make it a truly unique entertainment event for people to attend,” she said, “offering a variety of choices in song and in sweets for everyone.”