Hosted in the James Devin Moncus Theater, the Pelican Ball annual gala celebrates the leading supporters of arts and culture in Acadiana on Saturday, December 7, 2024.
Ticket Includes: food + drinks + live music + live art + Pelicans on Parade auction
Ticket Purchase Supports: AcA’s programs that bring national acts of music & dance, thrilling theater productions, and cutting-edge visual arts exhibitions to Lafayette. Your support also helps expand AcA’s community programs, which include professional development for practicing artists and Arts in Education experiences for more than 80 schools across the region, impacting 43,000 students per year.
Pelican Ball 2024 Honorees:
- Janet Begneaud, Member Emeritus
- Sharon Moss, Honorary Member
- Todd Mouton, Honorary Member
- Jody Nederveld, Honorary Member
- Cathy Webre, Honorary Member
2024 Pelican Ball Honoree Spotlight, by Ruth Foote
But I did love it here. I did love the way of life, and I love the people. I love the music, the dancing—the joie de vivre I guess as we would say. The freedom. And also, I love the way people all mixed together here. It seemed that everybody mixed together really well.
Sharon Moss has always been a woman ahead of her destiny. She is a woman that women—and men—respect, admire, and want to emulate.
Her beauty remains timeless. But her boldness, and keen business sense, defines her.
They set the standards for her success, and made her the icon she is today—one of the rare woman-owned, award-winning car dealers who has a fleet of luxury brands and close to 100 employees.
Success has allowed her to manifest her love for the arts as an art patron, and give back to the community she considers her home.
Still she was surprised to become one of the 2024 Pelican Ball honorees.
“Yes, I was totally surprised,” she says. “I really don’t give in order to receive. I love giving to causes I believe in cause it makes me feel good. I really don’t expect anything in return.”
One of the reasons is that the arts have always enriched Moss’ life.
“I grew up singing and dancing and had parts in plays. I absolutely loved it,” she recalls. “I guess I dreamed of being an actress or being involved in the arts.”
She even ventured into acting roles with the Abbey Players. “I guess I’m a wannabe,” she adds, laughing.
Moss grew up in a close-knit Lebanese Greek Orthodox family in a small town in Oklahoma. Both sets of grandparents had emigrated to the state from Lebanon. It was a home where traditions prevailed.
Throughout her life, Moss has encountered individuals who underestimated her, and made the mistake of judging her by gender. Even at the worst time in her life, ten years after they had opened the dealership in 1979, and her husband succumbed to sickness, and she was more than vulnerable, they tried to steal her business. After all, she was just a pretty face.
Fast forward to adulthood, and Moss found herself confronting adult bullies, who thought she was prey and they would take over the Moss Motors dealership because it was in dire straits. Moss reached out to her own forces, those who loved Billy-Jack, and were friends of theirs. And they responded in kind. To put it in simple terms: They had her back. And then some.
It did not take long for others to realize that Sharon Moss was more than eye candy at the car dealership. She grew the company, sold off the Honda fleet about five years ago, and focused on the remaining luxury BMW and Mercedes-Benz brands.
Despite pains of the past, Moss credits her parents, both perfectionists, for her upbringing as sheltered girls and their family values. It was from them that she received life principles particularly from her father, who grew up poor but had car dealerships in Oklahoma and Texas, as well as clothing and grocery stores.
Entrepreneurship was always part of her heritage, dating back to her paternal grandfather who was a peddler across the plains of Oklahoma. He sold a variety of goods, from sewing items to housewares, with his horse and covered wagon. But it was from her father, Moss understood the importance of customer service, how to treat people with respect, what makes them come back, and what makes people happy.
Some of his rules, such as being first because second does not matter, may seem a little harsh, but all of them have served as invaluable guideposts throughout her life, and especially in her business.
As she reflects on her life, she wants others to understand that success always starts with a humble beginning.
“I never been afraid to ask for something,” she says. “That’s why I’m a good sales person.” But—what has all this have to do with the arts?
Moss’ convictions have defined her, and with the same fierceness and passion she has fought for her business, she fights for organizations that she deeply believes in. And she supports, and loves to underwrite events, because they have a powerful impact on the community. Whether the program helps ill children or ones who have lost a parent like her son, she is ready to give.
She particularly loves supporting animal causes because of her love for all animals, and not just her furry companion and dog Layla.
Moss has always embraced her extrovert personality wholeheartedly. Her ideal cocktail party is to walk into a room where she knows nobody, and leave knowing nearly everyone.
But her driving force has been her faith. It has kept her safe, and strengthened and guided her, especially in her darkest moments.
Why are the arts so important to a community? “The arts enrich our lives in our community,” Moss says. “I’m all about community—simple as that.”