RALEIGH, N.C.  – A host of “North Carolina’s Finest” musicians will help celebrate the state’s new governor-elect and council of state at the Governor’s Inaugural Ball Jan. 8-9, 2009, in Raleigh. The two-day series of events is organized and hosted by the Junior League of Raleigh (JLR).

From Durham resident and jazz great Branford Marsalis to national country artist and Granite Falls native Eric Church, from Raleigh’s bluegrass favorite Chatham County Line to Chapel Hill’s own pop funk band Dillon Fence, the talent appearing at the Inaugural Ball offers something for any musical taste.

The schedule of events featuring musical entertainment at the 2009 Inaugural Ball “North Carolina’s Finest” is as follows:

Council of State Reception
Thursday, January 8, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Raleigh Marriott City Center
Semi-formal event honoring North Carolina’s newly-elected council of state, including the lieutenant governor, featuring Café Mars
$125 per person

Rock the Ball
Thursday, January 8, 9 p.m. – midnight
Lincoln Theatre
A new informal Inaugural Ball event featuring Dillon Fence and Pico vs. Island Trees
$20 per person

Gala Presentation
Friday, January 9, 8 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Raleigh Convention Center
Formal introduction of the governor-elect and council of state featuring Marsalis and Church, in addition to Vienna Teng, Sgt. Thomas Pope, Jazz Patriots and Minutemen
$200 per person, includes admission to Inaugural Ball

Inaugural Ball
Friday, January 9, 9 p.m. – midnight
Raleigh Convention Center
Gala celebration featuring Chatham County Line, Fantasy, Rick McClanahan and Tres Chicas
$125 per person

For complete details or to purchase tickets to the Governor’s Inaugural Ball, visit www.ncgovernorsball.org.

The Junior League of Raleigh (JLR) is the only Junior League in the country to host an Inaugural Ball and first hosted the event in 1933. Since then, North Carolina’s Inaugural Balls have raised money for many worthy organizations serving at risk children, including hospitals and other health agencies, public school programs, community centers and child abuse agencies. Some organizations have been local to Wake County while others have been statewide in scope.

This year, following extensive research on community needs, proceeds from the 2009
Inaugural Ball will benefit the Center for Community Leadership, the League’s gift to the North Carolina community. This new Center will offer a wide variety of training programs, shared meeting space and networking opportunities to non-profit organizations throughout the state. It will help other non-profits better serve their communities and enable the League to strengthen its existing programs and services. In addition to the new Center for Community Leadership, a portion of proceeds from the Inaugural Ball will be used to continue to fund JLR’s community grants. Ticket packages range from sponsorship packages to individual tickets. For more information, visit www.ncgovernorsball.org.

About the Junior League of Raleigh, Inc. (JLR)
The Junior League of Raleigh is an organization of more than 1,750 women committed to promoting voluntarism, developing the potential of women and improving communities through the effective action and leadership of trained volunteers. The League reaches out to women of all races, religions and national origins who demonstrate an interest in and commitment to voluntarism. Since its inception in 1930, the League’s contribution to the community has totaled more than 1,000,000 volunteer hours and more than $4,640,000 to community projects focused on education, health, women and children’s services.

Since 2000, the target area for the Junior League of Raleigh has been Promising Youth.
Through strategic partnerships and collaborations with other community agencies, volunteer placements and annually awarded community grants, the League’s contribution to the community since 2000 totals more than 175,000 volunteer hours and $1,162,000 to promising youth.