Another successful fundraiser is in the rear view mirror and I am sighing a happy sigh! On April 10 with snowflakes threatening to pile up, I lowered my expectations. I reasoned with myself that if half the people who registered showed up, even if we had to pay for twice as many, it would still be a success. None of my worst fears were realized. We had a nice turnout and raised almost as much as last year’s event which was held on a lovely spring day with 20 more attendees.
Craftsman Table and Tap has turned out to be a valuable partner. General Manager Ashley, Events Coordinator Toree, Chef Eric and the staff were wonderful.
Joan Tillett joined me as fundraising cochair for this event and has agreed to take over the the heavy lifting next year while I serve as club president. She is bringing great ideas and a fresh perspective.
The fundraising committee deserves so much credit. Special thanks to Eng Braun, Sarah Flanagan, Judy Levine (and her nonmember husband Vic,) Cheryl Mocadlo, Amy Montoya, Doug Nordstrom, Fe Semira, Brenda Weiss (member of The After Hours Rotary Club) and Thom Weiss.
Members who could attend spent the evening registering guests, helping with the raffle and made the distribution of prizes seamless. All club members requested donations for the raffle, silent auction and monetary donations.
Prizes generously donated by local businesses and gathered by persistent, dedicated club members were grouped into 16 baskets. Our inbound, outbound district youth exchange students created a sense of fun and competition as they tried to outpace each other as they sold raffle tickets. Fortunately they met with success as the gently prodded guests reached into their pockets to help support our efforts.
We also had four fabulous silent auction items.
Thank you to our sponsors Allen Lund, Marc Vitale and Darcy Kind, Doug and Betsy Nordstromb, Jim and Katie Butman, Rhea Myers, Wheeler, Van Sickle and Anderson, Eng and Bill Braun, Fe Semira and Graham Fuguitt and Scott James.
Monetary donations continue to come in through our website. These are coming from friends and family who could not attend but continue to support our efforts. Thank you all so much!