The best dance ticket is available for a jammin’ party starting at 9:00 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. In its 12th year, the Starburst Gayla is a fun filled party for queer women on the coast of scenic Rehoboth Beach in Delaware.
By Micaela Kaibni Raen
Best Dance Party in Town
The best dance ticket is available for a jammin’ party starting at 9 p.m. on New Year’s Eve. In its 12th year, the Starburst Gayla is a fun filled party for queer women on the coast of scenic Rehoboth Beach in Delaware. The Gayla is well known for its music and spacious dance floor, beautiful decorations, friendly women and an open bar. The party offers a raffle with the proceeds going to charity, a champagne toast at midnight, and a dessert and coffee buffet.
As if that isn’t enough, with the purchase of a dinner and dance ticket women will enjoy a posh dinner catered by Debbie Vescovi of Food by Design Catering. With specialty food creations like Mediterranean stuffed chicken breast, cranberry sage crab cakes as well as vegetarian options such as lentil cupcakes with marinara sauce and eggplant rollatini.
Held in the Rehoboth Convention Center, the theme this year is “Starry Starry Night” with the theme colors of gold and black. Natalie Moss, one of the founders of the event comments, “We are fortunate this year to have the popular entertainer, Cathy Gorman to entertain during dinner and the fabulous DJ Peggy Castle playing tunes that will keep the dance floor filled the whole night.
Beyond New Year’s Eve, there will be a weekend full of fun activities for women; including events at the Frogg Pond, the Rehoboth Ale House, the Seafood Shack and more.
More than Just a Party
Many of the people working at the event are actually volunteers who donate their time to raise funds for LGBT charities. In 2012 CAMP Rehoboth formed a partnership with the Mautner Project to form CAMP-Mautner Cares, a program that provides health related assistance to our community.
“We have donated over $52,000 to those organizations and over $92,000 to CAMP over the past 11 years. This year we are giving 20% of the proceeds to CAMP-Mautner Cares and 80% to CAMP Rehoboth Community Center,” says Moss.
Bringing the Community Together
The annual Starburst Gayla is not only a way to raise funds to increase LGBT services but it has become an annual tradition that brings the community together to celebrate accomplishments, freedom and love. It gives the LGBT community a friendly, safe and fun environment to celebrate the start of the New Year.
One of the event founders, Roni Posner, discusses how the event got started, “It began with the discovery that I had been born with a funky aortic valve which needed to be replaced, via open heart surgery. Afterward, I became active as a fundraiser for WomenHeart (the national coalition for women with heart disease) and got the idea, mainly from Monica Fleischmann, and then through the leadership of Natalie Moss and CAMP Rehoboth, to have a women’s New Year’s Eve bash. The rest is herstory.
The anticipation for the event increases every year and has grown to become a fundraiser that is close to the hearts of every ticket buyer, volunteer and to the LGBT community that it serves. The Starburst Gayla plays a vital role in fostering a strong community. So, where will you be on New Year’s Eve?
