PARTY WITH PAWS: Amanda Wilson is organising a party that will celebrate Portia de Rossi and raise money for Horsham People for Animal Welfare and Support. Picture: SAMANTHA CAMARRI
AMERICAN talk show host Ellen DeGeneres and wife Portia de Rossi will touch down in Australia this week.
Rossi was born in Horsham in 1973 and has since made a name for herself worldwide as an actress and DeGeneres' wife.
Horsham resident Amanda Wilson has organised a celebration of Rossi in Roberts Avenue on March 22.
Ms Wilson previously worked on a campaign to bring DeGeneres and Rossi to Horsham, but after no word from the duo, she has planned a celebration instead.
"It would be great for Horsham and my driving force was to put Horsham on the map," she said.
"We are proud of Portia and want to celebrate someone who came from the area."
The event, Portia Party with Paws, will celebrate the celebrity and also raise money for Horsham PAWS - People for Animal Welfare and Support.
"Both Ellen and Portia are vegans and animal activists and we thought it was appropriate to raise money for an animal charity," Ms Wilson said.
Horsham Rural City Council supports the event and Roberts Avenue will be closed from 4pm to 5pm.
"Council has been hugely supportive and I would like to thank them," Ms Wilson said.
She said people were welcome to bring their pets to the event and there would be a barbecue, plus a flash mob dance that people could learn on the day.
"I have even organised cardboard cut-outs of Ellen and Portia,'' she said.
Ms Wilson said the highlight of the event would be the unveiling of a plaque devoted to Rossi.
"The plaque will be on the footpath in Roberts Avenue, so it's like our own version of the Hollywood Walk of Fame," she said.
She said the wording of the plaque would remain a surprise until the unveiling.