The David L. Hubbard Foundation will be ringing in the New Year in style.

The foundation will be hosting its second annual New Year’s Masquerade Ball Sunday at Vicksburg City Auditorium. Doors will open at 7:30 p.m. and the event will continue until 2 a.m.

“Mardi Gras is right around the corner so I want to be the one to kick it off and do something different,” Shonna Hubbard-Morton, who started the foundation in memory of her father, said. “I wanted to have a ball, but what do you call a ball so I figured a masquerade ball that will bring fun and mystery to that night bringing in the New Year.”

The Soul Sessions band from Jackson with guest singer Vicksburg native Amira Carey will play from 8:30 until 9:30 p.m. when dinner will be served.

“I showcased her last year and she did so well we are going to have her come back this year because she is a native of Vicksburg,” Hubbard-Morton said.

The event will also include a silent auction and a champagne toast at midnight. Everyone will also be given breakfast to take home at the end of the night.

Dress for the event is semi-formal to formal and cash prizes will be given out to the man and woman who are best dressed with a mask coordinated with their outfit.

“I have had people call me and ask ‘can I wear a short dress?’” Hubbard-Morton said. “Yes that is fine. It is semi to formal. I don’t want anybody to think I can’t go because I don’t have a long dress. We are just trying to have fun and bring in the New Year together.”

Hubbard-Morton said more than 200 tickets have already been sold, but more are still being sold and will available at the door. Tickets are $30 in advance and can be purchased by calling Hubbard-Morton at (601) 301-0513. They are $35 at the door.

Money raised from the event helps to fund scholarships given out to JROTC members at Vicksburg and Warren Central High Schools. Vicksburg High School graduate Brandan Shaifer and Warren Central graduate Azylia Mallory were the inaugural recipients of the award this year and Hubbard-Morton said she hopes to honor between four and six graduates this year.

The foundation was started in memory of Hubbard-Morton’s dad David L. Hubbard who served in the U.S. Army for 32 years and died in 2007.

To be eligible for the scholarship, the students had to have participated in JROTC for at least two of their four years in high school and write and essay about why they felt they deserved the scholarship.