Masquerage, A Sad Goodbye

After 24 Years, Masquerage Announces The End

At the very beginning, Brent Johnson of the budding Square One Salon served on the associates board of the Aids Resource Center, ARC and took on the task of creating a fundraiser for ARC. It was to be a Halloween Party of Parties. As this concept developed, his partner, Josh Stucky who came up with the name “Masquerage” as a masked rage party complete with fashion show.

As the Cannery complex had not been fully developed yet, the empty underdeveloped spaces became home to the first Masquerage. DJ Hill, and DJ Venus cranked out the tunes to get the party started and soon Lisa Grigsby stepped in to produce Maquerage.

Over the years this annual Party of Parties continued to be a signature fundraising event for ARC and later with the re-branding Equitas. A variety of themes and an ever changing line up of entertainment hit the stage, but as it was from the very beginning, at the very heart of it all was the Rubi Girls who enthralled the crowd year after year with their very own brand of entertainment.

Lisa Grigsby said of the ending: “I just heard that Equitas has made the very difficult decision to discontinue Masquerage moving forward. Dayton’s Party of Parties for a cause had an incredible 24 year run. I had a blast producing this event from 2009-2013! I want to say a great big thank you to all who volunteered, performed and supported this event. I made so many friends along the way!”