The Sunset Beach Art Festival is nearly upon us.
The Mother’s Day weekend tradition might never be the same without the excitement of the Sunday afternoon raffle drawing for the annual quilt, created by the folks from Las Damas, the home-grown service club that has played an integral part in the history of the seaside community.
The quilt raffle is one of the main fundraising efforts at the Sunset Beach Art Festival. Each square is hand made by Las Damas and members of the Sunset Beach community.
Las Damas’ history goes back and its roots run deep in the Sunset Beach community.
Las Damas is a charitable non-profit women’s organization founded May 8, 1948 by a group of women, most were young mothers interested in promoting education and social activities. Their first project was a fashion show, held in one of the member’s homes; they charged 75 cents for the luncheon.
The group was created on July 10, 1948 and held the first Beachcomber’s festival, which is the forerunner of today’s Sunset Beach Art Festival.
The money they made was donated to a community fund, which was used to purchase the property on which the Sunset Beach Fire Station and the Community Center stand today. In November 1949, the first Fireman’s Ball was held to help support the community’s volunteer fire department.
Sunset Beach has recently lost its volunteer fire department, but through local donations that added up to about $200,000, the Sunset Beach Community Association was able to purchase the firehouse building for the community. It will serve the Art Festival again as a gallery for local artists.
According to Kathy Hammond, Art Festival Chairman, through the years Las Damas has sponsored the Brownies and Girl Scouts, AFS, Dollars for Scholars, Kiddy Parades, fashion shows, the Fireman’s Ball, art shows, rummage sales, Sweetheart Night, Easter parties, and an Olympic athlete. In 1964 they published their first cookbook. In 1976 they made their first of 32 quilts. In 1982 they incorporated as a non-profit organization.
At present, the fund raising activities support charities for the mentally ill, homeless families, and abused women. The activities also sponsor a Halloween party, a summer art program, and a poster contest for the local children. They provide scholarships for those in the community heading to college and donate funds to the local schools for their arts programs.
Membership is limited to 75 active members. Membership is open to women who live in Sunset Beach, Surfside, and surrounding areas.
The Art Festival quilt will be raffled at the close of the festival at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, May 8, by the Sunset Beach Fire Station #3 and the Sunset Beach Community Center, near 12th Street and Pacific Coast Highway in Sunset Beach.
Quilt Ticket pre-sales are available:
•April 18-23 at the Sunset Beach Post Office, 16885 Pacific Coast Highway, Sunset Beach 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
•April 25-30 at the Surfside Post Office, B89 Surfside Ave. 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
Tickets are $5 each or 5 tickets for $20 (best price).
