Utah Public Radio Celebrates the New Year with Benefit Dinner-Dance

Celebrate the season with the Northern Utah based band Way Way East Bay during a New Year’s Eve benefit at the Logan Country Club. Utah Public Radio, from the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Utah State University, is hosting an evening of dancing to live music from the nine-piece band known for soulful vocals and a horn section that supports songs from Chicago, James Brown and Tower of Power.

The Utah Public Radio New Year’s Eve event begins Thursday, Dec. 31, at 7 p.m. Cost of dinner, dancing and toasting is $100 per person with a portion of the donation being tax deductible. Dress is semi-formal. Reservations can be made online at www.upr.org.

Michael Christiansen will perform a lighter set leading into a five course dinner provided by Hamilton’s at the Logan Country Club. Following dinner UPR staff will join with guests to welcome in an early new year with a toast alongside a video feed of our friends from the east coast.

“This celebration is back by popular demand,” said UPR General Manger Peg Arnold. “Many listeners said they loved the speak-easy feel of the event in previous years. We want to keep that unique atmosphere available in the valley.”  

Way Way East Bay will continue the evening’s celebration with a mixture of music for dancing including funk, jazz and Mo-town. An official mountain-time toast will follow with dancing until 1:30 a.m.

This is the third New Year’s Eve celebration UPR has sponsored as a benefit event to support public radio programming in Utah. Arnold said the staff wanted to find a way to celebrate with the community and listening audience. Holding a benefit event to welcome in the New Year and to celebrate the success of 2015 made sense.

In August 2015, UPR introduced new programming to accompany already established national and local programs. Here & Now, q, and Ask Me Another have become quick favorites. These new programs were chosen to compliment the station’s established national programs including Morning Edition and All Things Considered.

“UPR has become known for having great nationally syndicated programs that complement our local programs like Behind the Headlines, Zesty Garden, Utah Climate Center Forecasting and our signature public affairs program Access Utah,” she said.

Contact: Utah Public Radio, 435-797-3215, www.upr.org