You probably haven’t seen a bridal event quite like this one.
    On Friday, Aug. 16, the Statesboro Ballroom at the Quality Inn and Suites will host “A Wedding to Die For,” a murder mystery dinner and bridal experience.
    Brides will step into a murder mystery, just like a real live Clue game, while they attend a mock wedding reception put on by local wedding vendors. Event sponsors are Shockwave Entertainment, La Bella Vita Photography, Fleurish of Statesboro (a florist), Doodle Bugs (a stationery shop), MainStreet Bridal and Magnolia Hospitality (parent company of the Statesboro Quality Inn and Suites).
    The Averitt STARS will provide entertainment.
    The vendors will showcase their services, designs, food and products as well as how they interact with people at a wedding and how they perform.
    Guests will enjoy a champagne cocktail hour where they will mingle with the wedding party (aka the actors) as well as top wedding vendors in and around the Statesboro area, browsing booths filled with lots of information to help them plan the upcoming wedding. And they will need to make sure they take notes because some of the vendors will give them hints on the "whodunit" event they are becoming a part of.
    Guest will then be seated for a four-course dinner by Magnolia Hospitality, where the murder mystery will unfold. As they enjoy the dinner, they will interact with the actors as well as the wedding vendors who are available for hire for their wedding. They will tasting the caterers’ food, enjoy the wedding cake for dessert, listen to the DJ get the party started, watch the photographers snap away, see the latest bridal fashions that the actors are wearing, and get ideas from the design from the florist and rental company as well as all the other key parts that make a fairy tale wedding come true.
    As for the murder
 mystery, everyone who guesses the murderer correctly will be entered into a drawing for the grand prize: a package filled with freebies and discounts from every vendor to give one lucky couple almost 40 percent off their entire wedding.
 
Tickets for this event are $25 each. Many door prizes will be given away. Tickets must be purchased by Aug. 9 and will not be sold at the door. Limited spots are available. All sponsors will sell tickets at their businesses, as will the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority. For more information, call Paige at (912) 508-2912 or Jeff at (912) 961-4011, or visit www.southerngirlsshows.com.

    The Back to School event was highly successful last year due to the efforts of its coordinators, Gayla Donaldson, Lisa Campbell and Annette Holloway, as well as the many churches, businesses and other community members who generously donated items.
    This year, the foundation plans to expand upon the event by offering community members additional entertainment such as water slides, jumpers, face painting, organized games, hot dogs and snacks; and more importantly, by launching a unique, fundraising effort developed with the community’s interests at heart.
    The “Pave the Way with 200K” campaign is an initiative developed by the foundation that aims to gather community support to raise $200,000, which will be placed back into the community for needs in the areas of health/wellness, youth, education, business and community development. These funds are being raised solely for the needs of Bulloch County residents. Therefore, any charitable organization that serves Bulloch County residents, within the previously mentioned areas, may apply for and/or receive grant funding.
    “Collectively, we are coming together to make a positive difference in the lives of our community members. The AABOCF wishes to model for our children and grandchildren that it is more blessed to give than to receive. It is our sincere hope that everyone will join this collaborative effort. We are asking all of Bulloch County to support our effort and generously donate,” said Annette Holloway, founder and president of the AABOCF. “Many times, fundraising organizations call Bulloch County residents asking that we donate money for a wide variety of seemingly worthy causes, yet, we find that the money never gets to the people who truly need it and certainly does not come to the residents of Bulloch County. Leaders of the AABOCF recognized this problem and in response to community need, developed the ‘Pave the Way with 200K’ campaign, which will end with an annual community banquet devoted to informing the community of how donors’ heartfelt donations have blessed the lives of local citizens.”
    The foundation has identified six official team leaders to oversee the campaign. The team leaders and causes they represent are posted on the organization’s website. For further information, visit www.aabocfoundationinc.com or email Annette Holloway at annetteholloway@hotmail.com.
    Please consider a generous donation to this worthy cause. All contributions are 100 percent tax-deductible. The foundation adds that with “Pave the Way with 200K,” “What’s raised in Bulloch County stays in Bulloch County!”