THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 30, 1995 TAG: 9503280112
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: ON THE TOWN
SOURCE: SAM MARTINETTE
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Ever gotten a hair ball in the mail?
At first I thought the fuzzy souvenir might have been an editorial comment from a reader, but, no, it was an invitation to the First Annual Hair Ball, to be held this Saturday - April Fool's Day, no less, at Das Salon, a haircutting salon in Ghent.
The event is set for 8 p.m. at the brand new digs of the eclectic haircutting salon, now located on the second floor of the former Chesapeake Auto Supply building at 200 W. 21st St. (623-5046). It will feature food from the Bienville Grille, Fellini's, Magnolia Steak, Maude's and Pungo Place, art by Clayton Singleton, a cash bar and a disc jockey spinning tunes for dancing.
Proceeds from the Hair Ball will benefit the Hope House Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides services for adults with disabilities. The Hope House Foundation brings you the twice-yearly Stockley Gardens Art Festival, the spring version of which will be coming up soon. If you can't wait, you might want to drop by Das Salon this Saturday and check out the action.
I asked Deborah DeMarco, a co-owner of Das Salon, why she and her partners, April Holland and Stacy Seitz, were staging such a thing as a Hair Ball.
``We've been having art openings every six months or so at our old locations, next to Cogan's,'' DeMarco explained. ``Now we have this open, lofty space, with 2,000 square feet or so, and we wanted to have something bigger than an art opening. We don't want to be known as just a hair salon.''
DeMarco and pals expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 people to attend, and she says dress for the event will be ``creative black tie.'' Tickets are $8 in advance and $10 at the door.
``From 8 to 9 (p.m.), we'll just mingle,'' she said. ``Then from 9 on we'll have a couple of deejays playing, and we'll pick up some hair balls. I'm making some hair disco balls, and I hope they come out.''
Also on tap this month (Sunday, April 23) is the annual Bartender's Ball, to be held this year at the Holiday Inn Executive Center on Greenwich Road in Virginia Beach, just across the city line. Bartenders from more than two dozen night spots will get together to take a busman's holiday and dance to the music of Big Idea, Dreams, The R&B All-Stars, Panama Steel and one of my favorite area bands, the Kilroos.
Tickets for the event are $50 per person in advance and $60 at the door, and the proceeds benefit the Make-A-Wish Foundation, Safehaven, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad, the Peninsula Aids Foundation, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and the Tidewater Literacy Council.
The theme for this year's Bartender Ball is ``A Night of the Nile,'' and the 1,700 people expected to attend are encouraged to express their creativity through creative Egyptian formal wear. The ball begins at 7 p.m., with a complimentary cocktail hour, followed by ``heavy hor d'oeuvres,'' and mucho music and dancing.
Among the Norfolk establishments represented are The Banque, Garry's, Hooters, JB's Gallery of Girls, O'Sullivan's Wharf, San Antonio Sam's, Skipjack's and the Waterside Live! complex. Beach places such as the Raven, the Heartbreak Cafe, the Coyote Cafe Cantina and others also will be represented. So who's tending bar while those bartenders are dancing the night away?
I have a bit of bad news is for those who enjoy German food. I talked recently with Lothar Nass at the Bavarian Inn (5541 Iowa Ave., 858-2758), who told me that April 15 will be his last day in business. The combination of long hours and a bad back getting worse had gotten the better of Nass, who opened his little restaurant five years ago and only a few months back received an honorable mention as one of ``Flavor's Favorites,'' during the annual Flavor section's selection of Tidewater's best restaurants.
Nass said that he would prefer to sell the restaurant to someone and work part time to help them get started but that he will close the place in two weeks if he doesn't find a buyer.
``I love this place,'' Nass said.
In the meantime, the Bavarian Inn is still serving lunch and dinner, Tuesday through Sunday, until April 15. by CNB