‘Celebrity bartenders’ raise money for Big Shot

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RIT Big Shot team

Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, will be the subject of RIT’s 28th Big Shot on March 23. Everyone is invited to come out to the Ritz Sports Zone on Friday afternoon to “Get Happy with the Big Shot Team,” featuring university bartending teams competing to raise the most tips to support the event.

Everyone is invited to come out to the Ritz Sports Zone on Friday afternoon to “Get Happy with the Big Shot Team,” featuring university bartending teams competing to raise the most tips to support this year’s photo-making event at Cowboys Stadium in Texas.

All tips and raffle proceeds from the event — 3 to 6 p.m. Feb. 1 at the Ritz Sports Zone, located in room A410 of the Student Alumni Union — will benefit the Big Shot Fund. RIT’s 28^th annual community photography project known as the Big Shot will capture a spectacular nighttime photograph of Cowboys Stadium, home of the Dallas Cowboys, in Arlington, Texas, on Saturday, March 23.

The celebrity bartenders scheduled to participant in the event include:

• Jeanne Casares, assistant vice president and CIO, and Joe Loffredo, assistant vice president/registrar, from 3 to 3:30 p.m.
• Neil Hair, interim executive director of the Innovative Learning Institute, and Kelly Redder, assistant vice president for Alumni Relations, from 3:30 to 4 p.m.
• Chris Lacata, senior associate provost, and Barry Culhane, executive assistant to the president, from 4 to 4:30 p.m.
• Chandra McKenzie, assistant provost for Academic Affairs; Debbie Kingsbury, assistant dean of the College of Imaging Arts and Sciences; and Judy Bender, assistant vice president and director of Human Resources, from 4:30 to 5 p.m.
• Mary-Beth Cooper, senior vice president for Student Affairs, and RIT President Bill Destler from 5 to 5:30 p.m.
• Secretary of the Institute Karen Barrows and Paul Stella, former director of RIT’s University News Services, from 5:30 to 6 p.m.

“How often do you get the opportunity to be served by Bill Destler or other top administrators here at RIT and help one of the university’s signature events at the same time?” says Kingsbury. “Which of these celebrity bartending teams will raise the most tips will be up to everyone who comes out to blow off some steam at this fun event.”

Kingsbury and other members of the Big Shot team — Dawn Tower DuBois; Michael Peres; Bill DuBois, professor emeritus in the School of Photographic Arts and Sciences; and Willie Osterman — will talk about the event and offer up some trivia questions and prizes.

The event also includes free popcorn, billiards and ping-pong, and raffle tickets ($2 for one ticket, $5 for three, $10 for 8, and $20 for an “arm’s length.”) Additional prizes include a Big Shot photo book and a framed Big Shot print of your choice from previous events.

Big Shot prints, books and notecards available at the Big Shot website can also be purchased online at anytime. Organizers also invite everyone to “like” the event on Facebook.

Area residents will join RIT students, faculty, staff and alumni at this year’s event in Arlington, Texas. The photo will be taken after sunset on March 23 rain or shine.

Since RIT started its Big Shot project in 1987, the event has hopscotched to several national landmarks and twice crossed the Atlantic Ocean. Through their viewfinders, Big Shot photographers have captured such landmarks as The Alamo, San Antonio, Texas; the U.S.S. Intrepid, New York City; Pile Gate, Dubrovnik, Croatia; the Royal Palace, Stockholm, Sweden; and the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C.

Nikon Inc. has been a longtime sponsor of the Big Shot and is among the sponsors again this year.