Ring in the New Year while also aiding local students.

Beginning at 8 p.m. Dec. 31, the third annual New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball benefiting the David L. Hubbard Foundation will be held at the Vicksburg Auditorium.

Founded by Hubbard’s daughter, Shonna Hubbard-Morton, the foundation aids JROTC students who plan to continue their military service.

“I did some research and I found out that the JROTC here in Vicksburg, the one at Vicksburg High and the one at Warren Central, had never had anyone to cater to just the cadets,” Hubbard-Morton said, “So I thought this could be a way to give back to the community on my father’s behalf, every year.”

Hubbard, who died in 2007, served in the U.S. Army for 32 years, and he also worked in security for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Vicksburg after his retirement in 1988.

In the past two years, Hubbard-Morton said, the foundation has awarded scholarships to Army JROTC and Navy JROTC Cadets at both Vicksburg High School and Warren Central High School.

“Since its inception, six former Army JROTC and Navy JROTC students have been able to further their academic careers, thanks in part to the scholarships,” she said.

Although the New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball is the primary fund raiser for the DLH Foundation, Hubbard-Morton said, other fund raisers are held throughout the year and the foundation has also been sponsored in the past and present by the City of Vicksburg; Outside the Box Business Center LLC; Dawn Stephenson of Timeless Eventz and Catering LLC (and Woman Boss Apparel); Brenda Love of Love Realty of MS LLC; Atwood Chevrolet; John Hennessey of Hennessey, Thames and Leavitt Insurance Agency; Shape Up Sisters; Edible Arrangements; Jefferson Funeral Home; The Lakeview Funeral Home; Cannon Motors of Mississippi; Mary Rantisi at One Time Fashions; Lillian Porter at Children’s Education Station; At Home Care Inc. of Port Gibson; Hubbard Financial Solutions LLC; The Open Market of Vicksburg; iStudio 901 of Memphis; Bancorp South; Reed’s Consulting LLC; The Vicksburg Post; Courtney Reed of Fix Fitness Center and Shonna’s Nails, Hair & More LLC.

The theme for this year’s ball is “Harlem Nights Edition,” Hubbard-Morton said, and decorations will be in the style of the 1920s.

The event will include live entertainment by Soul Sessions featuring Amira Carey, dinner by S and B Catering and a champagne toast at midnight. Cash prize awards will also be given to the male and female attendees who are best dressed for the 1920’s time period.

Advance tickets are $30 and are available at Michel’s Record Shop, 1417 Washington St., Shonna’s Nails, Hair & More, 1910 Drummond St. or by calling 601-301-0513.

Tickets will also be available at the door for $35.

For more information about the New Year’s Eve Masquerade Ball or how to help support the DLH Foundation’s JROTC Scholarship Award program, call Shonna Hubbard-Morton at 601-301-0513.