Given the success of last year’s First Star "Celebration for Children’s Rights" event, where kids and adults alike enthusiastically partook in carnival games, the kids' advocacy nonprofit decided to stick with 2007’s playful “Come Be a Kid Again” theme. In fact, this year the organization took the premise even more literally, ditching a sit-down dinner in favor of more informal buffet stations that offered selections of Chinese, Mexican, and Italian cuisine.
“First Star wanted this event to be even more fun and interactive than last year,” says Deirdre O’Neill, who collaborated with the nonprofit’s founder, Peter Samuelson, to produce the event. “They came up with the buffet station idea, which was great because it was so casual and perfect for families.”Bright red and yellow linens—the colors found in First Star’s logo—topped tables scattered throughout the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, as did Build-a-Bears stuffed into sand pails that served as centerpieces. For $100, guests could take the cuddly creatures home and simultaneously ensure that another bear would go to a foster child. Younger guests who might not have stashed away enough allowance money to buy a bear could still walk away with one in exchange for 100 carnival game tickets. Other prizes, like In-N-Out Burger vouchers and harmonicas, went for more modest ticket counts of 10.
The theater may not have been as versatile as last year’s venue—the cavernous Barker Hangar—but event producers made the most of the space by tucking air hockey and foosball tables into hallways, setting up a Nintendo Wii onstage, and lining the perimeter of the courtyard with carnival games. Prominent 22-foot banners featuring children and whimsical touches like a First Star T-shirt on a statue in the center of the courtyard helped guarantee the historic venue didn’t take away from the evening’s lighthearted tone.
“First Star wanted this event to be even more fun and interactive than last year,” says Deirdre O’Neill, who collaborated with the nonprofit’s founder, Peter Samuelson, to produce the event. “They came up with the buffet station idea, which was great because it was so casual and perfect for families.”Bright red and yellow linens—the colors found in First Star’s logo—topped tables scattered throughout the Wilshire Ebell Theatre, as did Build-a-Bears stuffed into sand pails that served as centerpieces. For $100, guests could take the cuddly creatures home and simultaneously ensure that another bear would go to a foster child. Younger guests who might not have stashed away enough allowance money to buy a bear could still walk away with one in exchange for 100 carnival game tickets. Other prizes, like In-N-Out Burger vouchers and harmonicas, went for more modest ticket counts of 10.
The theater may not have been as versatile as last year’s venue—the cavernous Barker Hangar—but event producers made the most of the space by tucking air hockey and foosball tables into hallways, setting up a Nintendo Wii onstage, and lining the perimeter of the courtyard with carnival games. Prominent 22-foot banners featuring children and whimsical touches like a First Star T-shirt on a statue in the center of the courtyard helped guarantee the historic venue didn’t take away from the evening’s lighthearted tone.
First Star's activity-filled \"Celebration for Children's Rights\" event
Photo: BizBash
Kids decorated visors at craft stations.
Photo: BizBash
Brightly colored linens added to the playful atmosphere.
Photo: BizBash
Adults played alongside children at the many carnival game booths.
Photo: BizBash
A psychic offered tarot card readings.
Photo: BizBash
Children manned many of the carnival booths.
Photo: BizBash
A T-shirt on a classical statue helped tone down the highbrow feel of the historic venue.
Photo: BizBash
