A Smashing Success Who would have thought that an evening of finger pointing and name calling would be the catalyst for a successful event for St. Francis of Assisi School?  The behavior was all in fun and most importantly, for the children, as their First Annual Gala School Auction, held on April 12th became a resounding success.  The auction, held at Fratello’s Restaurant in Manchester, attracted well over one hundred enthusiastic guests, and was the school’s largest fund-raiser, raising more than $10,000. In addition to gathering for a worthy cause, the auction itself was both exciting and extremely entertaining.  From the get-go, the atmosphere was electric as guests arrived and feasted their eyes on the vast selection of auction items up for bid, such as an In-Home Dinner for 10 Prepared by T-Bones’ Executive Chef, a Weekend House Rental in Waterville Valley, Principal For a Day, and Tickets to New England Favorite, the World Champion Red Sox. As the bidding began, the animation in the room had an electric energy of its own. Jaws were dropping, fingers pointing, and happy tears were shed with many overly generous bids; the highest bid being $1,100 for A Priest & A Feast, a dinner prepared by Father Ray Labrie, Pastor of St. Francis Parish.
This being the first auction in the school’s history, expectations were kept to a practical level; yet expectations were surpassed by the generosity of the guests, donors, volunteers, and the community. The event “looked like an auction in its fifth year,” stated Larry Sott, one of the evening’s Silver Sponsors. The evening began with a Chinese style auction, made possible by the generosity of local merchants and restaurants. The majority of the items however were available by Silent Auction, with guests bidding throughout the evening. Several popular items fetched high bids, many auction goers left with bargains. Follow this link to the School's Web Gallery to see the auction results.  A few items were selected for Live Auction. Fr. Richard Dion, the pastor of Nashua’s St. Aloysius of Gonzaga Church, volunteered as the auctioneer. His lively interaction, along with his humorous and light-hearted demeanor, captivated the crowd, driving up bids on several live auction items while, the entire room roared with laughter. “Just watching the live auction was worth the price of the ticket,” stated Erin Gagliardi. When we asked her if she won any bids, she added, “no, but Fr. Dion was very funny.”
School Principal Shannon Dannible couldn’t be more pleased and looks forward to enhancing the student’s education. "St. Francis is truly a one of a kind school,” she commented. “The teachers strive to provide the students with a quality education that gives them the foundation for a successful academic career. The funds raised from this auction will help to support these efforts. Technology is an area that can always be advanced, in addition to multiple alternative programs that can aide the students in their studies.” The success of this event will assist St. Francis School in continuing to raise the bar in the quality of education; which makes every task involved in bringing the auction to life, regardless of how large or small, worth the effort. Those efforts were described as “awesome” by Fr. Ray Labrie, he went on to say “the generosity far surpassed all expectations, thank you all, to the volunteers the bidders, and to the donors. Thank you for making this first auction a thrilling success!” For more pictures from the evening, click on the Web Gallery link foond on the school's website under the Auction menu. |
