***Update (posted Friday, June 19, 2015): We are looking forward to celebrating the MSV’s 10th anniversary with you at tomorrow’s Summer Soirée. If Mother Nature decides to rain on our garden party, no worries! We will continue to watch the weather, and if necessary, the party will move indoors to the MSV. Weather permitting, the house & gardens will be open.

See you tomorrow night…rain or shine!***

Tickets Now on Sale for The Sixties Summer Soirée Encore  

Winchester, VA 6/03/15…The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley (MSV) is celebrating its tenth anniversary with music, dancing, champagne, food, and prizes at a 1960s-inspired cocktail party from 7:30 to 10:30 p.m. on June 20. [Buy your tickets here.]

According MSV Executive Director Dana Hand Evans, the MSV held a Sixties Summer Soirée last year to celebrate the renovation and reopening of its Glen Burnie House. Party-goers had such a fabulous time at the event, says Evans, that the MSV is bringing it back to celebrate its tenth anniversary. The soirée will take place in the Glen Burnie House and Gardens and will recall the days when MSV benefactor Julian Wood Glass Jr. (1910–1992) and his partner R. Lee Taylor (1924–2000) entertained in Glen Burnie and “The Rat Pack” and classic cocktails ruled.

Unlike the days when Glen Burnie was a private estate and only a privileged few attended its cocktail parties,Evans notes that sponsorship from builder Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. has made it possible for all who want to celebrate there now to do so at a reasonable price. A ticket to attend the party—which includes admission, entertainment, hors d’oeuvres, and complimentary champagne—is just $25 per person for MSV Members and $35 per person for all others.

Along with offering the opportunity to experience the house and gardens after hours, soirée highlights include dancing to the sounds of swing, Motown, and more from Terry Oates and the Mudcats; a fun selection of 1960s-inspired hors d’oeuvres; and a classic-cocktail cash bar.

Menu highlights include Chicken à la King in Pastry, barbecue meatballs, shrimp cocktail, fondue, fresh fruit and cheese, and a variety of desserts. Beer and wine will be available for purchase for $5 each and the evening’s signature drinks, Whiskey Sours or Gin and Tonics, will be available for purchase for $6 each.

Party-goers are invited to get into the spirit of the evening: both the lady and the gentleman wearing the most inspired 1960s attire will each win a $100 gift certificate to Bell’s Fine Clothing of Winchester, courtesy of Bell’s. In addition, all those who attend the event will be entered in a drawing to win ten free tickets to this summer’s popular Gardens at Night concert series. Tickets for The Sixties Summer Soirée may be purchased online here or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 213. The deadline for making reservations is Wednesday, June 17.

The Museum of the Shenandoah Valley is located at 901 Amherst Street in Winchester, Virginia. The MSV complex—which includes galleries, the Glen Burnie House, and six acres of gardens—is open Tuesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The Museum galleries are open year-round; the house and gardens are open April through October. Admission is $10 or $8 for seniors and youth ages 13 to 18. General admission is always free to youth ages 12 and under and to MSV Members, and thanks to generous sponsorship from Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc., it is free to all every Wednesday. During the weeks between Memorial Day and Labor Day, the house and gardens will be open free of charge each Wednesday until 8 p.m.  Additional information is available at www.theMSV.org or by calling 540-662-1473, ext. 235. –END–

About Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc.

Founded in 1896, Howard Shockey & Sons, Inc. is one of the largest continuously operating construction companies in Virginia. Julian Wood Glass Jr. chose the firm to modernize his ancestral home in 1959, and more than 50 years later, the Museum of the Shenandoah Valley selected it to shepherd the Glen Burnie House into the twenty-first century and implement a Master Plan for the Museum’s 214-acre landscape. Additional information is available at www.shockeybuilds.com.

About the Glen Burnie House and Gardens:

The Glen Burnie House sits on land that Winchester-founder James Wood settled in 1735. Wood’s son Robert built the oldest portions of the house in 1793 and 1794. Descendant Julian Wood Glass Jr. (1910–1992) became the house’s sole owner in the 1950s; with partner R. Lee Taylor (1924–2000), he transformed the Glen Burnie House into a country retreat surrounded by six acres of formal gardens. After Glass’s death and as a condition of his will, the house and gardens opened to the public in 1997. Tours of the house and gardens are self-guided.

Photos of Sixties Soiree 2014 by Rick Foster.
Photo of Terry Oates and the Mudcats courtesy of Terry Oates.