Family marks 25th anniversary with a Quarantine Ball
April 25 would have marked the 25th annual Conservancy Ball. Each year, the annual Catalina Island Conservancy Ball raises vital funds for key conservation, education and recreation programs. Of course the Conservancy missed the opportunity to host its largest fundraiser of the year but, more importantly, missed a chance to celebrate with you, the supporters who love Catalina.
One family found a creative way to mark the occasion. Cailin Doran, whose siblings have been attending the ball on the island for the past seven years, decided to bring the celebration home to her family with Conservancy Ball: Quarantine Edition.
“It was a surprise,” Cailin said. Her parents and siblings “woke up to an invitation on their door that only included a start time and dress code of ‘Quarantine Fancy’ (anything but sweatpants and a T-shirt).”
“Catalina is so big in our entire family’s life,” she said, with both siblings having worked on the island as well as her fiancé. “Everyone has been sad with so many canceled events, we thought we would throw the ball here and invite ourselves!”
She and her fiancé Scott McConahy transformed the backyard into an outdoor ballroom. “One of their favorite parts of the ball is the live music. It’s almost like a different era and a different time,” Cailin said of her siblings. Though there’s nothing quite like a live big band, she found music from a jazz band on YouTube to listen to during cocktail hour to recreate the mood.
Though different than the historic Casino and a party with 500+ Catalina enthusiasts, they captured vital elements down to the music, candlelit table with a bottle of Rusack wine, and auction.
“I think that’s when they laughed the hardest, seeing the auction,” Cailin said. “We made cards for things like ‘Get out of Dishes’ and ‘Dinner of your Choice,’” plus had bottles of scotch, champagne, and even a package of coveted sanitizing wipes. “I’ve been cleaning out my room and found a drawing from first grade, which served as our original art piece.” Everyone received $150 of fake cash to bid on their favorites. In true Conservancy Ball fashion, there was even a bidding war.
“As much as we could we tried to bring all of the elements together,” she said. “Rather than just having dinner, we decided to go all out.”
In the midst of this uncertain time, with her brother’s graduation canceled and the possibility of postponing her wedding, Cailin and her family looked to their ‘Quarantine Ball’ as “a fun night where we forgot about everything else and just celebrated together,” which is exactly what the annual Conservancy Ball is to the Catalina Island Conservancy.
