WELCOME

On behalf of Arkansas State Society President Glenn Mahone, we would like to thank our members and the many visitors coming to the Washington, DC area for visiting our website. Please stop by often as we will be updating it regularly with all of our upcoming news and events. For more information, questions or comments, please contact Glenn Mahone at 202-329-6711.

Tickets for Cherry Blossom Festival events sponsored by the National Conference of State Societies (NCSS) are now on sale. The Russian-Inspired "Passion Runway" Fashion Show Lunch is on Wednesday, March 31. Lunch tickets are on sale now for $65 each or $595 per table of nine with a state cherry blossom princess in seat number ten at the table. The exciting fashion show features Russian models and is produced by Russian-born artist and set-designer Evgenia Luzhina-Salazar with music by Serge Kerchinko on guitar and songs by vocalist Gurda Williams. Lunch will start at 12 noon at the Fort McNair Officers' Club, Building 60, at 4th and P Streets, SW. The event is over by 2:30 pm. Please write your check to "NCSS" and include the names of your party.

Mail check to:
NCSS Festival Events, c/o John Espinal
902 Hickory Circle, La Plata, MD 20646
703-863-6679 (Cell)
703-934-7933 (Home)
Send e-mail questions to ncssevents@comcast.net.

Deadline to receive payments for the lunch and lists of names for each party is Monday, March 23rd, 2009.

The 61st United States Cherry Blossom Queen Grand Ball and Dinner is Friday, April 3 at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, 1000 H Street, NW. Dress is formal for ladies and black-tie preferred for gentlemen. A sushi reception will precede the dinner. Times to be annouced.

For the 61st time since 1948, state cherry blossom princesses have a chance to be selected by a random spin of the wheel of fortune to ride as the Queen in the April 4 Cherry Blossom Parade and represent the US on a trip to Japan in May. Tickets are $150 per person or $1,350 for a state society table of nine seats with your state princess at seat number ten.

Please make sure at least nine of your state society members are there to cheer for your princess when the wheel is spun. Make your reservations as soon as possible by contacting NCSS Ticket Chair John Espinal at the addresses and phone numbers above.

There will be an NCSS Congressional Reception from 6 to 8 pm on Wednesday, March 31 in the Hart Senate Office Building for princesses and Members of Congress. This will be a sponsored event by invitation to state society officers and RSVP details will be announced soon. Keep watching the top space at www.StateSocieties.org for upcoming event details.

If you want to buy grandstand tickets for the Parade of the National Cherry Blossom Festival presented by Southwest Airlines on Saturday morning, April 4, the state cherry blossom princesses will be in the parade as a colorful unit with their state flags. There is free space to watch along the route from 7th to 17th Street on Constitution Avenue, NW. But if you want to buy seats for $17 each, call TicketMaster or visit the parade website at http://nationalcherryblossomfestival.org/cms/index.php?id=468.

Stay tuned for more details!!