Tannenbaum Ball Tickets On Sale Now!

Everyone can help celebrate the season with an elegant meal, live dance music, auction, and raffle while raising money for a good cause by attending the Tannenbaum Ball on Friday, Dec 11 in Fredericksburg, Texas.

The Ball is sponsored by the Gillespie County Historical Society and is one activity of Preservation Weekend. Other events include the Holiday Home Tour and Candlelight Tour on Saturday, Dec 12.

Guests at the Tannenbaum Ball will enter a world of "Partridge in a Pear Tree,” with colorful birds perched in delicate silver branches at the Pioneer Pavilion in Lady Bird Park. At 8 p.m. Dawn Gentle serves a formal dinner service of baby spinach salad with roasted walnut dressing and blue cheese crumbles, choice cut prime rib, garlic potato mashers drizzled with balsamic cream sauce, and grilled vegetables. Dessert will be a mini-cake assortment of chocolate-mocha-raspberry, strawberry-cream cheese, and lemon blueberry, plus chocolate almond truffle and apricot streusel bars.

The Bill Smallwood Band will perform for the Ball. This well-known group is a crowd favorite, playing tunes from standard country to rock classics to big band numbers designed to appeal to all musical tastes and dancing styles.

During the evening, guest can buy chances to win one of three unique prizes, choosing from a new motor scooter from Scootique, VISA gift card, or a custom painted rifle.

Tickets are $30 each or 4 for $100.

One highlight of the Ball is the live and silent auction. Notable live auction items include a Crawfish Crawl for 30 people, Piper Cub flyover of Gillespie County, Houston Grand Opera package including hotel accommodations and dinner, Murder Mystery dinner, and a week-long Santa Fe retreat for 12.

Reservations for the Tannenbaum Ball are $100 per person, and need to be made by Dec 4.

During Preservation Weekend, visitors can also participate in the Holiday Home Tour and the Candlelight Tour on Saturday, Dec 12.

The Holiday Home Tour runs from 12 noon until 6 p.m. and features nine distinct properties in an around Fredericksburg, dressed up in holiday decor. The Candlelight Tour follows on Saturday evening from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Visitors can view three historic houses decked in period decor and lit with candlelight. The tour includes the buildings and grounds of the Pioneer Museum, where carolers will sing while volunteers serve hot cider and traditional German cookies.

Tickets for the tour are $25 per person, or $43 for the Tour by Trolley. Trolley seating is limited to 27 and requires reservations by December 4, 2009. The Candlelight Tour is $15 per person. This year the public can purchase tour and ball tickets online at www.pioneermuseum.net.

Patrons also can order tickets by any of four methods:

By phone - 830-997-2835

By mail - GCHS, 312 West San Antonio Street, Fredericksburg, TX 78624

By email - Vickibeasley@austin.rr.com

In person - Pioneer Museum, Vereins Kirche, Historical Society office, Gastehaus Schmidt, Journey Lane Scrapbooking, Crenwelge Motors (Kerrville)

Preservation Weekend is the largest fundraiser for the Gillespie County Historical Society, whose mission is to preserve and tell the story of Fredericksburg's unique cultural heritage.