10th annual One Night, One Diamond event to take place March 24

FORT DRUM — Attendees of the 10th annual “One Night, One Diamond” event from 6:30 to 11:30 p.m. March 24 at the Commons will each take a chance at winning a traditional 10-year anniversary gift — a diamond.

Hosted by the Samaritan Auxiliary, the event will give each participant a chance to select a little black bag that could have either cubic zirconia or a real half-carat, loose diamond, donated by Waterbury Fine Jewelers, Watertown.

Throughout the evening, guests will look over their jewels to guess which person has the real diamond. Towards the end of the night, the guest with the real diamond will be announced, as those little black bags will be identified by a number.

“There’s no viewing of the diamond,” said Irene C. Carman, event chairwoman. “It’s by chance.”

She and 11 other people from throughout the community helped organize the event, which seeks to raise $30,000 for the purchase of a radio frequency identification system for the hospital’s maternity (newborn babies), pediatric and other patients who are at-risk.

Each year, the auxiliary selects an item to purchase for the hospital, based on Samaritan’s capital budget list.

Mrs. Carman, wife of Samaritan CEO Thomas H. Carman, said the auxiliary selected the identification system for the 2012 “One Night, One Diamond” event because it was different from what the auxiliary selected in years past. With the auxiliary’s support of the event, the hospital has been able to purchase a noninvasive ventilator for the neonatal intensive care unit and instruments used to diagnose and treat cancer, among other equipment.

The radio frequency identification system will reach a more broad range of patients. Hospital spokeswoman Krista A. Kittle said pediatric patients are already on a locked unit, as are residents of Samaritan Keep Home, but Mrs. Carman said the new system will simply replace the current one.

“It’s for patients who may have a tendency to wander,” Ms. Kittle said. “Certainly the more they wander, the more at-risk they are to fall, among other things.”

Mrs. Carman said the hospital could isolate the elderly residents that may need an identification system tag in order to have them tracked by the system. Each patient who would be identified as at-risk would be required to wear one of those tags.

She also said there may be a bigger scope to the radio frequency identification system, but this is just a small piece of it. Samaritan could eventually have the updated system for the Samaritan Keep Home and its new senior village complex, currently under construction, off of outer Washington Street.

Meanwhile, tickets for “One Night, One Diamond” are now on sale. They are $150 per couple and include dinner, dancing and the chance to also win a two-night getaway package, donated by Lake Placid’s Mirror Lake Inn. Guests will enjoy music of the band “Atlas.”

“One Night, One Diamond” is sponsored by the Watertown Daily Times, 7News, Coca-Cola, FX Caprara Car Companies, the Caprara family, Hancock & Estabrook LLP; Key Bank, Purcell Construction and Renzi Food Service, among many others.

Ticket and other event information may be found on the event website, www.samaritanhealth.com/diamond.

Responses are requested by March 15. Seating will be limited to about 375 people.