Dancing through the decade benefits HB museum
story and photos by Elka Worner
More than 200 people attended the 7th Annual Hermosa Beach Historical Museum Dancing Through the Decades Gala on Saturday, August 26, at St. Cross Church. Committee Chair Jake Courtney, who auctioned off historic photos, beach artwork, a Strand cruiser, and a surfboard, said the evening raised $60,000.
“The gala is extremely important,” said Museum Director Jamie Erickson. “It’s how we make it year to year.”
“We are not a city entity,” she said. “We’re a non-profit entirely funded by the community and this gala.”
Proceeds from the gala will go towards the museum’s youth education programs, she said.
The money will also be used to replace the climate control unit in the museum’s storage unit, which broke down earlier this year. The storage room houses old city surveys, copies of the “Hermosa Beach Review” and Easy Reader newspapers, historic photos, and negatives.
Other uses for the funds will include renovating the museum’s popular Beach Culture Gallery, a permanent collection that documents the histories of surfing, volleyball, skateboarding and lifeguarding in the beach cities.
The Bottle Inn catered the evening. Hermosa Brewing and Uncorked provided beverages.