// mail.inc disabled due to spam abuse Looking for a Ragtime Sugar Daddy (or Mama) | Mass Historia

Looking for a Ragtime Sugar Daddy (or Mama)

For something like a decade now, we have had a very nice ragtime tea dance in the Lanterman House in La Canada/Flintridge. Ian Whitcomb has provided the music, and the Locke - Noble Tea Company provided the tea, and 50-60 people have had a very nice afternoon in the ballroom of the 1915 Craftsman house.

ImageThe event has always turned a modest profit, but given the small scale of the event, it has never really been a fundraiser, either for LAHA when LAHA ran it or for the Lanterman House since they took it over.

The world being what it is, the Lanterman folks are now feeling the need to squeeze as much money out of their events as they possibly can, and we are under a bit of pressure to figure out a way to make the Ragtime Tea Dance a real revenue source for the Lanterman House Foundation.

While we can certainly fiddle around the edges, looking for ways to cut costs or marginally increase revenue, the fundamental mathematical truth is that an event that has 50-60 paying customers, paying a price that folks like us can afford, is never going to pull in the big bucks.

The only way I can see to change the fundamental mathematics of the event is to find a sponsor. A community donor would turn a modest profit into a whatever-the-donation-is plus a modest profit, and that could make all the difference in the world.

So, here's the question: does anyone out there in cyberspace know of any person, organization or business, perhaps in the Pasadena/Glendale vicinity, that might want to raise their community profile by having their name attached to a worthy event ("The Roscoe's Chicken and Waffles Lanterman Ragtime Tea Dance" perhaps). Such an underwriting would not be a massive investment - one or two Grand maybe.

Note that I am not looking for a foundation grant. Those are usually WAY too much work and have a lot of strings attached. We are also already thinking about the usual raffle/silent auction route.

Thanks for any suggestions you might have.

Please contact me via email (Click here)

Walter