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2009 Silent Auction - Another Smashing Success!
In 2005, a beleaguered board of directors was staring at the possibility that the Silent Auction that year would not happen. The planning for the Year End Awards, the close of the season, and lack of volunteers had stretched the limit of what was possible. The two remarkable women put up their hands and said, "I'll help out. It will be fun." The auction that year was not cancelled, and the rest is now proverbial history.
Molly Nemeth and Meredith Quigley are those two magnificent women. They have been running the Silent Auction every year since then, and it has gotten bigger, better, and more amazing every year. But 2009 was looking a bit different. With the economy wreaking havoc with businesses everywhere in the US, and Tennessee being no different, we struggled to keep our Sponsorships and Donations a the same lofty levels of 2008. Would the same troubles torpedo the ability to get donations for the auction?
Pshaw! O ye of little faith! We are talking about Molly and Meredith, so of course the auction would be awesome!. This year we sought a larger venue to accomodate the monstrous amount of donations we knew we would get. So, we moved to Blackstone Brewery on West End Avenue, and prepared for the fun.
There were the usual suspects filling the room, you know, those who only miss an event because they were caught in a tsunami or other unavoidable disaster. And there were pleny of newbies on hand to get their first taste of the Kangaroos Silent Auction. And this year, a special guest dropped in, totally unannounced: former Rooboy ruck/half forward, John "Muffin" Brinker! He strode in and said G'Day, Mate as if he hadn't missed a Roo event for the last five years. How great is that!
We plenty of specialty beers and wines and the customary home-baked pies and cookies (Yum!). We had hotel stays, Predators tickets, flying lessons, artwork, gift baskets galore, jewelry, and computer gear. We had footballs and guernseys. We had the Nemeth hunting trip again (rapidly becoming an old standby). The list goes on (literally). No, seriously, it goes on and on, to the tune of 85 items!!!
It took about an hour to clear the tables, collect and count, and then Meredith and Molly could breathe a well earned sigh of relief. For a little perspective, the 2007 auction raised $1,361 on a record number of items, but not a record amount of money; that goes to the 2004 Auction that reached the $2,300 level. That was smashed in 2008 when we raised $3,276. While 2009 set the standard for items donated, it just missed out on the double gold, falling shy of the record at $3,077.
What an amazing accomplishment in a time when everyone is tightening their belts. Congratulation, ladies. You have outdone yourselves yet again. This selfless effort positions the Kangaroos to finish 2009 in the black and ahead of budget for the fourth consecutive year. If we can accomplish this in a 'down' year, imagine what we can do in 2010! I guess we better tell Stephanie at Blackstone we'll need a bigger room!
