By Unsie Zuege
Mary Stenerson has a couple reasons to celebrate.
Stenerson, associate vice president of finance, and auction director at Holy Family Catholic High School (HFCHS) was able to retire the German dirndl skirt for this year’s annual “Spirit of Fire Dinner Auction,” and, more importantly, the event raised a record setting $260,000. Stenerson’s legion of volunteers included Rhonda Schumer, auction and contributions chair, and Marie Bell, logistics chair.
Organizers had hoped to raise $220,000, Stenerson said, and exceeded it by $40,000. Attendance was 550, topping last year’s record of 510.
Fundraising and popularity of the event have grown incrementally each year since beginning in 2000. In 2000, its first year, the school raised $48,000 for the auction gala dinner. This year there were more than 400 donors, Stenerson said.
Harvest Moon: Submitted photo.
The Spirit of Fire Dinner Auction has both a live and silent auction. The grand prize of the live auction was a trip for four to the Masters Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club. The winner, the grandfather of an HFCHS student, was called to the stage where the auctioneer presented him with the Augusta green sport coat and cap.
One of the most popular items over the year, Stenerson said, is the silent auction of themed dinner parties. They range from tony Maine Lobster dinner, to the steak and lobster dinner for the parents of the Freshman Class, to wine cellar dinner parties, and the more casual tailgate and bowling parties. Another popular auction item has been themed dinnerware with all the fixings—china, silver, glassware, and imaginative table decorations. Bidders see the actual table displays—settings range from 4 to 8—and winners get to take the entire table display home.
“It’s a win win for both,” Stenerson said. “Some people love china and decorating but would never have room for all the different themes they love. This gives them an opportunity to shop and design something beautiful. And the winners are often people who admire beautiful table settings but don’t know where to begin to put something together for themselves.” This year HFCHS had 10 such themed tables from Happy New Year and Happy Birthday, to seasonal-themed tables.
Gala guests: Front: Bill O’Neill, Mary Weingart, Anne Traxler, Al Weingart. Back: Pam O’Neill, Mike Felmlee, Jane Felmlee, Ron Slominski, Molly Slominski, Bill Traxler, president of Community Bank Corporation, event sponsor.
Planning for the gala event begins in June, with a vast network of volunteers. She worked with 400 this year. Each fundraising volunteer gets a calling list of 12 people represents a cross-section of the community from parents, relatives, and businesses, and making personal contact is a key to success, she said, considering how many nonprofits ask for donations through the year.
“The generosity of this community is outstanding,” Stenerson said. “I really do feel blessed to be part of this Holy Family community and experience its generosity to Catholic education.”
As for the German dirdl skirt, Stenerson said that the Oktoberfest theme has been retired in favor of the November appropriate “Under the Harvest Moon” one. “One of the volunteers made a 10-foot diameter moon,” she said, “and with the spotlight beamed on it, it was breathtaking and really set the atmosphere for the evening.”