Who says librarians don't know how to party?
The board of the Prince George Public Library put on a thriller night Friday for hundreds of Prince George revelers at the Hot Blooded Ball.
While the crux of the event was to raise money for the library's Skylab project a major renovation of the adult floor at the Bob Harkins branch that will create 1,000 square feet of new space it also worked to showcase the library in a new, and undeniably sexy, light.
"This isn't exactly a black-tie, sit-down fundraising dinner," said Neil Godbout, communications co-ordinator for the library.
Instead, the lobby and ballroom at the Ramada Hotel were filled with witches, zombies, rock stars, pirates, black swans and Jersey Shore cast members. Many partygoers also took the evening's theme to heart and dressed as characters from the HBO series True Blood to impress a couple of special guests.
Actors Kristin Bauer and Allan Hyde, who play vampires Pam and Godric, on the popular television show, made the trip to north and spent the evening posing for pictures, signing autographs and laughing with those who stood in line to have a brush with Hollywood.
Danielle Hohnisch had already been waiting for two hours at the front of the photo line before she got her chance to meet the celebrities.
"I'm very excited," said Hohnisch, who was dressed as Medusa for her first time meeting someone famous.
"I could only tell them my name, I was so nervous," she said after taking her picture with the actors.
Also hoping to get a photo, but from afar, were flight attendants Alia Mohamed and Kristal Paul. The two Calgary residents were staying at the Ramada for the night, but couldn't join in the fun due to their curfew.
The duo, both big True Blood fans, found out the actors would be appearing that morning and had lingered around the lobby since noon to catch a glimpse of them.
"I had a mini stroke," joked Mohamed about finding out the celebrities would be in attendance.
After the actors made their appearance, Paul and Mohamed attempted to snap shots of them on their cell phones.
"[Mohamed] had a mini-heart attack," laughed Paul, who said she got her boyfriend hooked on the show and cited lead character Sookie and werewolf Alcide as her favourite True Blood characters.
Creating this kind of frenzy is exactly what the board of the library was attempting to accomplish, Godbout explained. "We're trying to add to the cultural life of the community, which is what we feel our role is at the library anyway," he said. "And it was a heck of an opportunity, too [getting the actors]. We couldn't pass it up."
Bauer and Hyde, who stayed at the party until well after midnight signing autographs, told The Citizen they had nostalgic first impressions of Prince George.
"It reminds me of the town I grew up in, which I guess is about the same size," said Bauer, a native of Racine, Wis. "So I see cold [weather], sweet people, four bars on every corner and I feel like I'm back home."
Hyde, making his first trip to Canada, said the climate also reminded him of his native Denmark. "I didn't know it was this cold, but it reminds me of back home."
Though the celebrity duo opted to wear their "regular human" costumes for the evening, they marveled at some of the costume choices and had the difficult task of selecting the best male and female outfits.
"People are really dedicated to the costumes," Hyde said.
Arlen Fleury spent a month crafting his handmade Predator costume. The scent of glue and paint could still be picked up from last-minute touchups.
"This was working until two o'clock in the morning for a month straight," explained Jennifer Brunn, who had to act as Fleury's guide and translator for most of the evening, as the headpiece didn't allow for great sight lines or communication.
"He does one every year, but this is the most elaborate," Brunn said, noting in the past Fleury has created Iron Man, RoboCop and Space Marine costumes.
"The details are astounding," Bauer said.
Fleury's attention to detail paid off, and he was awarded one of the trips for two to either Mexico or Cuba for his work.
The best female costume prize was split between a pair of local women who took one of the more saucy lines Bauer got to deliver as Pam in the most recent season of True Blood and brought it to life.
Sarah Ormond-King and Judy DeFreitas of New Beginnings Midwifery, said they only started putting their outfits together on Tuesday.
"We had too many babies this month," Ormond-King said.
The actress was so impressed, she had her co-star snap a photo of her with the two women, dressed as fairies with hats resembling female genitalia, on her cell phone.
"If any one knows what a vagina looks like, it's them," Bauer said.
To learn more about the Prince George Library's Skylab project, visit the Bob Harkins branch.
