Montgomery Insider
Montgomery Insider
Soirée en Rosé
Balbina Maniet of the Montgomery Sister Cities Commission joins us. She will talk about an upcoming event, Soirée en Rosé, a refined, elegant social event honoring the friendship between the City of Montgomery and its sister city, Neuilly-Plaisance, France.
Joining us today is Balbina Maniet. Balbina is a member of the Montgomery Sister Cities Commission, and she stopped by to tell us about a fun upcoming event. Thank you for joining us. Well, thank you Matthew. I appreciate you inviting me. So the two of you are both on sister cities, so let's start there. So tell us about what Sister Cities does. We have a sister city in France. It's Neuilly-Plaisance. And it is just a celebration of culture and the partnership and bringing some of the culture, the concepts, the excitement and entertainment to the city of Montgomery. And we have hosted several events from Bastille Day to Dinner Around the World now the White Party or Soiree Le Blanc. And that's one of them, a new concept that was, you know, just kind of through conversation, because we did dinner around the world where we celebrated different cultures diversities of just passions, of food and sharing the stories and entertainment. So we've kind of done a nice warm handoff to our partners, the Diversity Inclusion Committee, and we decide how can we bring a little taste of entertainment, a little taste of just that culture? Um, but in a different way. Hence the reason why we have the Soiree en Blanc party. Now, this one that you're hosting in February. Brand new, although similar idea. It's a brand new event. We're all very excited about it. So why don't you tell us a little bit about how this one's different than the Dinner in White? You've got a little bit of mix up in the colors too, which is really fun and exciting. Yes it is, it's very exciting. So before I answer that, I got to kind of take us a step back, right where this originated from 1988. Um, Francois Pascal, who was um, he was like, hey, friends, family, let's just all get together. Let's go to this park in Paris, have this beautiful setting and everyone wear white. And the reason why they wanted everyone to wear white is because that way you could easily be identified when you're in the park. So you just have just this celebration of just people coming together, bringing their own food in this beautiful backdrop in Paris, France. Like, why not? And just having a great time? Because that's what it's about. That's the purpose, right? Being around family and friends and being able just to have that gathering of celebration and entertainment. So there's different variations of it throughout the years and what we've decided to do, because typically it's actually in the warm summer season, but we've decided that we're going to go ahead and host this in lieu of dinner around the world that we are now doing it in that season of February, which is quite cold. So we were like, let's add a little spin to it. It's close to Valentine's Day. Um, then we have rosé. Um, and when you think about France, you think about wine. And what comes out of wine is you have the red blends, you have the rosé blends, you have the white blends. So it's just a morph of just all this culture and diversity and flavors and entertainment, and hence the reason why we wanted to make this just a little special by adding that flavor of rosés and reds to the white party. I think that's a great idea, especially since it's so close to Valentine's Day. So if you're looking for something to do, give us an idea of when it is. It takes place on February 22nd. It is from 630 to 9. Um, we love our kiddos, but it is an adult party, so there will be some, you know, just adult beverages being served. And I mean, and how how amazing is that? We have for $25, you get a hot chocolate bar. You get, um, uh, wine, um, and. You get your drink ticket. Yes, you get your drink ticket. That's right. You get your drink ticket. And you also and the you can get additional drink tickets for $6 a pop, but you also have, um, the, you know, we're going to provide the formal setting, the desserts, a hot chocolate bar, um, and some alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages, making sure that you've purchased those alcoholic drink tickets ahead of time. And it's just a celebration. What's really exciting is everybody brings their own food. That's the exciting part because you just see, um, what everyone's different flavor is. Right. Um, so I think that's going to be exciting just walking around, mingling, engaging, meeting new people and seeing what's their food of choice. So I may be bringing some snails, some escargot, I don't know just yet, but why not? Why not? But it's more of an elegant little upscale, um, just ambiance of the evening. And we just want people to come and have fun and just experience each other's company and enjoy and be in the moment. Yeah. So if I buy a ticket, what should I wear? Great question. Because we are celebrating the different flavors of France the whites, the reds, the rosés. You can wear any of those colors. And especially it being around Valentine's Day, little spice it up that, um, you know, you don't have to worry about wearing white. Um, so you have a little bit of a little bit of choices, some choices in it. I like that because in wintertime, white can be a little bit, you know, there's always these old fashioned rules that your grandmother had. And yeah. So pink makes it a little bit adds a little bit of something special. That's right. Montgomery. Yes. I'll be that person. You don't wear white after Labor Day, but that's okay. I won't judge it. I'll probably be wearing white too. So. But tell me about the entertainment. Oh, yes. So the entertainment we have going on faux Frenchmen. It's a four. Yeah, it's a quartet. Um, it's an instrumental. They play French music or some traditional American music, and. And so they'll be playing during dinner, uh, like some dinner music. And then after dinner, they'll have, we'll have like an hour performance from them. And I've watched them a few times and they're really entertaining. It's really fun. And I think people will love it. Yes. Because you, you know, you have the French ambiance, French music. Yeah. So it's going to be an exciting night, just full of culture and warmth. And it may be a little bit chilly, but that's okay. We're all in it. Yes. We'll be all safe into a lodge. That's right. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's one key point. The last time we had this, it was outdoors. Correct. And it's always a challenge with the weather and with people dressed up. It just became a bit of a mess sometimes. So we thought it's going to be December or February. We're going to do it indoors. So whether it's not an issue, it'll be nice and warm and cozy. There's a fireplace in there. Um, and so tickets are $25 a person. Mhm. Uh, and like Balbuena said they include your full place setting cups, plates, silverware, all that, the hot chocolate bar, one drink ticket and a dessert. Yep. So all you really need to do is just bring whatever food you want. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You're not stuck eating my favorite. Wait. Get this. You bring your own, which I think is so much. It's so much fun because then I can bring anything I want. And then I'm really excited about the hot chocolate bar that's following a lot of fun. And then their extra drink tickets. So if one's not enough, you can buy them when you when you get your ticket. Or you can buy them later on if you'd like. Um, but we're not going to do any sales at the event, so make sure you get them there. So, Matthew, where do you get your ticket? You go to montgomeryohio.gov and right on the home page you'll see the soiree and rosé. Uh, event listing. You just click on that and it'll send you right to the registration. And we've already sold 17 and just went on sale two days ago. So we're that's very exciting. So I wouldn't wait too long or you lose your opportunity. Um, but it's going to be a really fun event. We're going to try to really amp this up and be a nice, formal, fun evening for the adults. Yeah, yeah, that's what I love about it too, because sometimes if you have small children around Valentine's Day, it can be tough to get a babysitter. But it's Saturday the 22nd. You've got, you know, a little bit more time there. You can still celebrate with your loved one and maybe have a better chance at finding someone to watch the kids. Yeah. Great point Amy. Great point. Yeah. So is there anything else you'd like to add, or did you forget anything or. No. I'm just really looking forward to just like Amy's point, everybody brings their own dish that they like. And I look forward to the conversation of why. You know, typically there's always a story why people make this certain dish that they want to bring and celebrate and share that with, you know, family or friends, whoever, you know, they're sharing them, you know, around the dinner table with. So yeah, we're looking forward to it. So don't forget to get your ticket. Montgomery, Ohio. Ohio is spelled out ohio.gov.