Terry Schoonover doesn't yet know what she'll wear to the Smith Mountain Lake Charity Home Tour Gala. She's been too busy planning the event to go dress shopping.

Schoonover is co-chairing the gala with Peggy Overstreet. Between planning the theme and decorations, making invitations and programs and preparing items for the silent auction, Schoonover said there isn't much time left in the day. But you won't hear her complain. There's no time for that either.

"Right now, everything is coming together," said Schoonover. "The auction items are coming in, the sponsorships are coming in and everything has to be accounted for."

Schoonover, a 14-year lake resident, started volunteering with the home tour last year. She was originally recruited to help with their sponsorship database.

"Then she kept volunteering at the board meetings," said JoAnn VanVechten, public relations manager for the home tour.

Gala invitations need to be designed? Check. And gala programs? What about sponsorship recruitment? Check, check.

This year, Schoonover is continuing those roles, as well as co-chairing the gala and chairing its silent auction. With so much on her plate, she hits the ground running every day.

"It's nice when you have someone with so much enthusiasm because it stimulates everyone," said VanVechten.

For Schoonover, being among the 1,600 home tour volunteers, is stimulating as well.

"It's a wonderful group to work with," she said. "It's very fulfilling. I love working with all the people and getting to know the community."

It's a joy she's attempted to pass on to her two daughters: Cris Perdue and Casey Schoonover. Last year, Terry Schoonover recruited her daughters, who both work in graphic design, to help create the invitations for the gala. This year, they've served as her sounding board. Casey Schoonover will be serving as the registration hostess.

"My daughter and I were talking about the gala, and I kept saying, 'If I'm going to be doing this gala, I want it to be an affair to remember. So what should the theme be?" she said. "And my daughter said, 'You just said it.'"

So this year's Sept. 12 gala theme is: An affair to remember. An evening of elegance. Schoonover said to capture the theme, the board has chosen Hotel Roanoke as the location. There will be free valet parking, white-glove service and a five-course, sit-down dinner. But Schoonover doesn't want the glamour to scare people away.

"The gala is open for anyone and everyone," she said. "It's not just by invitation only."

And with the gala only a few weeks away, lake residents will be able to see her months of hard work come to fruition. And after the home tour is over, Schoonover will have a few months to relax before starting on next year's tour in February.