The schedule for the 2009 North Carolina Governor's Inaugural Ball and festivities, organized by the Junior League of Raleigh, is now finalized based on Governor-elect Beverly Perdue's calendar.

The Gala Presentation and Inaugural Ball will be Friday, Jan. 9, instead of Jan. 10 as previously announced. The new schedule allows Governor-elect Perdue to host an open house at the Executive Mansion on January 10 following her inauguration.

"We are privileged to, once again, host the Inaugural Ball, and our key objective is to plan a celebration that meets the vision of the governor-elect and council of state," said Virginia Yopp, Junior League of Raleigh president. "After 75 years of involvement with the ball, we recognize that the events and schedule may be altered to meet the governorelect's needs. While we start planning long before the election because of the magnitude of this event, details are not finalized until after the ballots are counted and we are able to discuss with the governor-elect."

The series of events honoring all the newly elected officials can be found at http://www.ncgovernorsball.org and also is listed below:

Council of State Reception
January 8, 2009, 6:30 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.
Raleigh Marriott City Center
$125 per person
Rock the Ball
sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and University of Phoenix
January 8, 2009, 9 p.m. - midnight
Lincoln Theatre
$20 per person

Governor's Reception
January 9, 2009, 5:30 p.m. - 7 p.m.
Location: TBD
North Carolina's Finest Gala Presentation
January 9, 2009, 8 p.m. - 9 p.m.
Raleigh Convention Center
$200 per person (includes an inaugural ball ticket)
Inaugural Ball
January 9, 2009, 9 p.m. - midnight
Raleigh Convention Center
$125 per person



The Junior League of Raleigh (JLR) is the only Junior League in the country to host an Inaugural Ball and first hosted the event in 1933. Since then, North Carolina's Inaugural Balls have raised money for many worthy organizations serving at risk children, including hospitals and other health agencies, public school programs, community centers and child abuse agencies.

This year, following extensive research on community needs, proceeds from the 2009 Inaugural Ball will benefit the Center for Community Leadership, the League's gift to the North Carolina community. This new Center will offer a wide variety of training programs, shared meeting space and networking opportunities to non-profit organizations throughout the state. It will help other non-profits better serve their communities and enable the League to strengthen its existing programs and services. In addition to the new Center for Community Leadership, a portion of proceeds from the Inaugural Ball will be used to continue to fund JLR's community grants.