Lawn Party to dish out new ticket, raffle structure

The Longboat Key Gourmet Lawn Party is approaching on Dec. 5, and changes are on the menu for this year’s event.

Last year, tickets were $25 in advance and $30 at the door, and tickets for the $20,000 raffle were $100. This year, tickets are $50 but include entry into the raffle.

“In order to make the event more inclusive and to generate more excitement the day of, every guest who’s in attendance will be eligible to some fantastic prizes,” event chair Michael Garey said.

There were 28 restaurants offering samples last year, but Garey hopes to have close to 40 this year. So far, 17 restaurants have signed up. New this year will be The Blue Rooster, Antoine’s and SOMA Creek Side, among others.

Like last year, guests will enjoy unlimited wine, beer and soft drinks, as well as live entertainment.

This year’s raffle will include five prizes, which Garey has not announced yet.

“I can’t say yet what they are, but I’m 100% certain it’s the best group of prizes we’ve ever offered,” Garey said. “It’s going to be pretty exciting.”

Those who cannot attend the event but would still like to be entered into the raffle can purchase tickets for $25 each or five for $100.

In addition to the raffle, there will also be a silent auction and three live-auction items.

Also new this year is that all tickets will have reserved seating instead of the usual limited number of reserved seats.

“Each year, the reserved seating always sold out well in advance,” Garey said. “Three weeks before the event, we were out of reserved seats, yet the raffle was always a challenge. We always had 500 tickets available, and we sold a record 478 last year, but it still didn’t sell out. We had what we felt a discrepancy between the incredible demand of the reserved seating and the less than stellar demand for the $100 raffle ticket.”

Although much of the event is changing, its core of helping out local children remains the same. Last year the Lawn Party, which is the Kiwanis Club’s largest fundraiser of the year, raised more than $70,000. Nearly $60,000 of that was awarded in the form of scholarships to 40 local students. The remainder went toward local children’s charities. Garey hopes to raise $85,000 to $104,000 this year.

“It will be a very, very nice event for everyone,” Garey said. “We’re very excited. I think this will be our best year yet.”