IMAGE GALLERY: Saturday Night Fundraiser Draws Dozens

was a bright and festive setting for the 2nd Annual Auction, held on Saturday, March 12. Colored gift bags, gadgets, sports memorabilia, baubles, trinkets and more filled the tables that lined the Yellow and Red Rooms. Participants nibbled appetizers and chatted while perusing the selection of items up for bids. 

Yem Reitsma and Sara Dullea, auction co-chairs, began planning for the event at the start of the new school year. Around the first week in February, they began soliciting donations from Fales parents, Fales classrooms and grades, and local businesses. This year’s fundraising goal is $10,000, which is approximately $1,000 more than what was raised last year.  

Proceeds from the event are used for school’s enrichment programs, Fales Parent Group events, and school supplies and equipment that are not covered by the school budget. This includes things such as audio visual and playground equipment. 

Enrichment Programs funded by the auction include a visit by The Dinosaur Lady for kindergarteners, Mother Goose Day for grade 1 students, Tanglewood Marionettes for grade 2 students, and a Helen Keller program for third graders. 

Students projects up for auction included self-portraits done by each classroom. Fales Parent Group president Kim Martin-Girard explained, “Each classroom has a self-portrait and each grade has a class project.”  

Many of the classroom self-portraits had themes such as rainbows, smiling suns, and peace signs.  Class projects included a whimsically decorated book case and garden bench with 3 painted plant pots donated by the kindergartens, a beach bag stuffed with an assortment of towels donated by the first grade, an artistically hand-painted table donated by grade 2, and a set of Adirondack chairs donated by grade 3. 

Marc Richards emceed the live auction. Bidders formed a circle around him as he stood on a chair in the Yellow Room and skillfully upped the ante on coveted items. 

Approximately 80 attended the event, including principal Maryann Stannard, some teachers and a school secretary. All who attended left with a slightly lighter wallet, a fuller stomach and a smile.