Black & White Gala Returns September 24

The Chestnut Hill Community Association’s annual Black and White Gala is scheduled for Saturday, Sept. 24 from 7:30 to 11:30 p.m. The Hill’s signature social event, now in its third year, brings hundreds of people onto Germantown Avenue between Evergreen and Highland avenues for an elegant evening of live music and dancing, food, cocktails and a charity auction benefiting the Chestnut Hill Community Fund.

This year’s gala features the sounds of the Jump City Jazz Band, which thrilled crowds at the recently wrapped-up Pastorius Park summer concert series with a mix of uptempo “jump jive” numbers, classic jazz standards and rhythm and blues. The auction will feature a great variety of items, offers and services at every price level, from themed gift baskets to a 10-day stay at a house on a French island off the coast of Brittany.

Planning committee member Janine Dwyer said that the gala is a great way for the community to come together for fun and a good cause.

“Everything is contained in that 8500 block [of Germantown Avenue], and it’s all very elegant and very exciting to see all those people you run into in your scruffies on Saturday morning at Kilian’s … all dressed up,” she said. “Everyone in 19118 should know they are invited, and it’s not limited to 19118.”

Food will be catered by Jim Israel of Culinary Concepts, and the cash bar will feature beer, wine, soda and a martini bar, according to committee member Leigh Filippini.

Dwyer also offered two pieces of sage advice: get tickets in advance if possible, and, for the ladies, wear shoes appropriate for cobblestones (there will, of course, be a floor installed for dancers).

Gala chair Andrea Imperatore added that the evening would not be nearly as wonderful without the generous sponsorships of Commerce Bank and Michael Hickey State Farm Insurance Agency.

For more information on the Black and White Gala, call the CHCA at 215-248-8810.