EVENT REPORT 03.09.10 1:47 PM St. Patrick's Auction Gets Sporty With Referees, Pompoms, and Pennants in School Gym
More than 470 guests dressed in jerseys, cheerleading uniforms, and other athletic apparel gathered at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School on Saturday for the school’s sports-themed benefit for its financial aid program. The 36th annual auction’s venue—the school gymnasium—was a natural fit with this year’s “Game On” theme.
“It’s a wide, open space with no restrictions,” said André Wells, owner of Events by André Wells and parent of a St. Patrick’s student, who volunteered to produce the dinner. Wells added that although the venue had its challenges (vendors were limited in when and where they could park their trucks on school property), the gym is bigger than some of the city’s hotel ballrooms.
Homecoming essentials like crepe paper in St. Patrick's school colors, pompoms, and tissue paper flowers livened up the stairway leading to the gym. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
To maintain the evening's sports theme, servers from Main Event Caterers wore referee uniforms. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
Each table's focal point was an oversize fabrication of sports-related objects from commercial sculptor A.J. Strasser. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
In addition to the green-and-white tablecloths and orange cones lining the stage, on-theme touches included gobos of the school seal and projected images of student athletes. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
A concession stand selling St. Patrick's-branded stadium blankets and pennants stood outside the gym's entrance, next to a display of decorative trophies and a popcorn stand. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
For the silent auction, parents decorated the school's main building across the street with jerseys and other sports paraphernalia. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
Passed hors d'oeuvres at the silent auction included coconut shrimp on a stick. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
A striped awning gave the bar in the school gym—manned by a bartender clad in a referee uniform—a sporty look. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
St. Patrick's parent and political commentator Tucker Carlson volunteered as the evening's auctioneer. Photo: Stephen Elliot/Mud Productions for BizBash
St. Patrick’s Episcopal Day School "Game On" Auction
The auction’s inspiration always relates to the values of the school, and this year’s sports theme was no exception, according to St. Patrick’s assistant head of development Carrie Ahlborn, who worked with associate director of development Cathy Albo to coordinate the event. “We have a strong athletics department and this is a way to celebrate that,” Alhborn said. “By having the theme it allows people to relax and not have to buy a new dress.”
The silent auction “pep rally” in the school’s main building kicked off the evening, as parents and alumni bid on auction items and sampled Main Event Caterers' tailgate-inspired foods, like corn dogs and nachos, and sipped the specialty St. Germain Elderflower cocktail.
At 8:30 p.m., a drum major led guests across the street for the “big game” sit-down dinner in the gym, where Wells had covered the floors with Astroturf and taped off foul lines to resemble a playing field. Green-and-white striped linens and sculptures of sports-related items (think footballs, sneakers, and hot dogs) by commercial sculptor A.J. Strasser topped the tables, while pompoms and crepe paper lined the walls. Rounding out the look: a popcorn bar and servers in referee uniforms.
The school sold 344 tickets at $150 for the cocktail reception and dinner, and 133 tickets at $50 for the reception only. The rest of the funds raised came from online, silent, and live auction items, most of which were donated by parents and ranged from home-cooked meals to stays at beach homes. Political commentator Tucker Carlson, another St. Patrick’s parent, volunteered as auctioneer for the live auction, which defied D.C. norms by lasting till nearly 2 a.m.
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