‘Yacht Party on the Mexican Riviera’ is Dress the Child dinner theme

We encourage everyone to buy tickets in advance, because last year’s dinner, our first with a yacht-party theme at Amador Live, sold out.”

long-time Dress the Child coordinator Doug Boberg

With eight food stations featuring dishes like shrimp with chimichurri sauce, Yucatan tacos, pollo al Ajillo and Coconut mango panna cotta, the 2023 Dress the Child fundraising dinner promises to be an unforgettable event.

With a theme of “Yacht Party 2 Mexican Riviera,” this year’s dinner will begin at 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 8, at Amador Live, 302 S.  Main St. Tickets are $100.

Hilary Floren, the long-time host of KVIA-TV’s Good Morning El Paso, is returning as master of ceremonies, and DJ Neo Kid will be spinning records from a variety of musical genres.

Tickets are $100 and will be available in advance and at the door with reservations.

“We encourage everyone to buy tickets in advance, because last year’s dinner, our first with a yacht-party theme at Amador Live, sold out,” said long-time Dress the Child coordinator Doug Boberg.

Here is the evening’s menu:

• Ensanada: Shrimp with chimichurri sauce, prepared by Grapevine Plaza and Event Center Chef Vince Campbell, who is the dinner’s food coordinator
• Caba San Lucas: Paella de Marsico’s, prepared by Amador Bar and Grill Executive Chef Enrique Hernandez
• Manzanillo: Salbutes – Yucatan tacos with shredded turkey, prepared by Tom Drake, chef and culinary arts director for Doña Ana Community College (DACC)
• Acapulco: Cochinita pibil – seasoned pork roasted in banana leaves served with radish salsa, prepared by D.H. Lescombes Winery and Bistro Executive Chef Garrett Moore
• Puerto Vallarta: Marinated tri-tip with papaya chutney, prepared by MountainView Regional Medical Center Executive Chef and Food Service Director Paul McKim
• Puerto Escondido: Pila’n verde pork tacos – slow-roasted pork with mole verde and cojita cheese, prepared by Hacienda de Mesilla Executive Chef Cecelia Castro
• Huatulco: Pollo al Ajillo – white wine and garlic chicken, prepared by Salud de Mesilla Chef and owner Russell Hernandez
• Mazatlan: Coconut mango penna cotta and assorted chocolate truffles, prepared by Doña Ana Community College cake and patisserie instructor Jenn Hart.

This year’s dinner sponsors include Citizens Bank, Household Furniture, Mynatt Springer P.C. and Conterra Networks, with support from Amador Live and Del Valle Design and Imaging.

All dinner proceeds go to the Dress the Child program, sponsored by the Rio Grande Rotary Club. The program has provided new clothes and shoes for thousands of children in need selected by Las Cruces Public Schools and Gadsden Independent School district since Dress the Child began nearly 40 years ago.

Students from Centennial High School’s Family, Career and Community Leaders of America program and student government (supervised by Carleigh Salmon, Megan Romig and Melanie Stuart) will be servers. Students from DACC’s Culinary Arts Program will assist dinner chefs. Table decorations will be provided by Jan and Giuseppe Portillo, Jamie and Jake Painter and Anne Clark.

New this year is a Dress the Child Giving Tree. A miniature Christmas tree set up inside the Amador during the dinner will have ornaments made by students in Annie Lisak's Tombaugh Elementary School art classes. Each ornament will have the name of who made it and a suggested donation. The donor will present the ornament and his or her donation during the dinner, Boberg said.

Tombaugh Elementary students making the ornaments “are very excited to know that their efforts are going towards helping underprivileged children living in our area,” Boberg said.

Dinner ticket sales will be a major contributor to the Dress the Child program’s $70,000 goal for 2023, its 37^th year in Las Cruces.

Contact Boberg at drboberg@gmail.com.

Visit www.dressthechildlc.org for more information and to purchase tickets. For tickets, click on “MORE” and “ANNUAL FUNDRAISING DINNER.” Also visit Dress the Child Las Cruces on Facebook.