by Natasha Khairullah
Staff Writer
After meeting his first wife at a United Services Organization event in Green Cove Springs, Ed McMahon could say he has lifelong ties to Northeast Florida.
It’s no wonder, then, that he will serve as host and honorary chair for the USO’s 65th anniversary gala event on Nov. 4. The gala is titled “Thanks for the Memories” and will take a look at the USO’s past services to the military community and will feature a Bob Hope-style variety show with songs, dancing and a bit of comedy.
McMahon will also host video vignettes throughout the evening that portray the various decades of the USO’s service in Jacksonville.
Gala Executive producer, Margaret Weitzel – who is getting plenty of help from co-executive producer Michelle Miller – said McMahon was asked to host the event because of more than just his star status.
“Many people don’t know this,” said Weitzel, “but Ed McMahon was a Marine. I knew that he was a retired lieutenant colonel from the reserves and I said that’s who we need to host our show.”
McMahon may be best-known as the long-time emcee for the “Johnny Carson Show.”
Other performers for the evening include Mickey Rooney, humorist Jim Villers, the a cappella group The Metropolitans, Natural Truth, dance groups A Social Affair and Patriot Sound as well as a number of locally renowned performers.
According to Commander and Executive Director of the Jacksonville USO, K.C. McCarthy, this is the first time Jacksonville’s USO has hosted a fundraising gala.
“We thought we needed to be doing something here in Jacksonville,” she said, adding that the idea came up while she was at a USO celebration in Washington, D.C.
“Every big city that is home to a USO holds a big fundraising gala of some sort, but we don’t. We’re a big military community and we need to be celebrating and honoring the heritage of the USO,” she said.
“I’ve been working really hard since taking over at bringing us to the forefront in this community so they know who we are and so that they better understand what we do. And, that’s what this event will help us achieve.”
McCarthy said that in addition to expanding the overall work of the USO in Jacksonville, part of the funds from the event will help increase services at the USO Welcome Center at the airport.
The gala will be professionally recorded on DVD and sent out to troops that are deployed. McCarthy said ticket sales will also help put money towards that effort.
The 65th anniversary celebration will kick off Nov. 4 with a Gala Motorcycle Ride around Jacksonville at 3 p.m. and wind up at the Landing at 4 p.m. The event will continue at the Landing until midnight.
The gala will be at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts Moran Theater at 7:30 p.m. Tickets range from $100 to $125 per person. For more information, call the USO Jacksonville office at 778-2821.