Glitz & Garland ticket sales benefit hospital foundation

Byron Yarborough received a chance to win a GMC Sierra truck during the upcoming Glitz & Garland fundraising raffle that benefits the Saline Memorial Health Foundation and the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce.
Byron Yarborough received a chance to win a GMC Sierra truck during the upcoming Glitz & Garland fundraising raffle that benefits the Saline Memorial Health Foundation and the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Isn’t this just great to see?” asked Gary James, executive director of the Benton Area Chamber of Commerce, looking out over the more than 250 people gathered under tents and enjoying hot dogs and hamburgers that were being grilled a few feet away.

“All these people getting together for a good cause — it makes me proud of Benton and Saline County,” he said.

The gathering was held June 6 as a celebration of civic pride, the kickoff of a fundraising raffle and to learn more about the third annual Glitz & Garland, a “two-day holiday shopping extravaganza,” held in November to benefit the Saline Memorial Health Foundation and the Benton Chamber.

Matt Brumley of the SMH Foundation congratulated members of the crowd for their united effort in supporting the special event.

“We are working today to secure the success of our community,” he said.

At Glitz & Garland, which will start Nov. 1, local merchants will offer gift items such as jewelry, children’s clothes and toys, accessories, collectibles, home and holiday items, and gourmet food items.

This year another special feature of the event may be its setting. James has said he expects the popular event to be held in the new Benton Convention Center, now under construction at Hickory Square, along Interstate 30.

In addition to shopping, the event will offer the Glitz Café, which will be open for lunch and dinner for patrons to enjoy while they are checking their Christmas shopping lists.

The highlight of the cookout promoting the November event was the presentation of a vehicle to be given away on Nov. 2, the final day of Glitz & Garland.

Three people were selected to step up and take a key, and they were directed to vehicles parked on the courthouse lawn. On the count of three, each participant tried to start the vehicle he had entered.

The red four-door, four-wheel-drive Sierra pickup truck was started when Byron Yarborough of Rineco Chemical in Haskell turned the key he had selected. This identified the vehicle, valued at nearly $40,000, Brumley said, that would be the grand prize of the raffle.

Yarborough received a free ticket for the raffle.

Everett Buick GMC of Bryant donated the vehicle for the raffle, just as the dealership has since the first Glitz & Garland in 2011.

The chamber of commerce and the foundation will sell the other 499 raffle tickets for $100 each for a chance to win the vehicle.

Only 500 tickets will be sold to provide every ticket holder with a better chance to win the new vehicle, Brumley said.

The two organizations hope to raise $50,000 from the raffle-ticket sales.

James said Glitz & Garland gives a boost to local businesses.

“It will spotlight our city and help jump-start the holiday season for our local businesses,” he said when the event was announced.

Tickets for the raffle can be purchased at the chamber office on North Market Street and at Saline Memorial Hospital. Members of the chamber and the foundation also will have tickets for sale.

For more information about Glitz & Garland, visit the chamber’s website, www.bentonchamber.com.

Staff writer Wayne Bryan can be reached at (501) 244-4460 or wbryan@arkansasonline.com.

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