IYRS Summer Gala Raises Just Over $1 Million

Supports of IYRS School of Technology and Trades gathered for the school’s annual summer gala earlier this month for some cocktails, dinner, live music and together, along with sponsors, raised just over $1 million over a weekend.

The 18th Annual IYRS Summer Gala’s title sponsors were Jaguar, Prestige Family of Dealerships and Tiedemann Wealth Management. IYRS supporters Kate & Jimmy Gubelmann, Anne & Matt Hamilton and Helene & Archie van Beuren served as 2015 Gala co-chairs. Gala-goers enjoyed cocktails and dinner by Blackstone Catering, and a dynamic live performance by The Beach Boys.

“We are preparing people who are ready for jobs both in and outside the Marine Trades.” said IYRS President, Terry Nathan. “The people who deserve the most credit are the faculty. Anyone that has ever been involved in education knows how difficult and how much energy it takes day in and day out to fulfill curriculum.”

A sign of the school success is in the numbers. Ninety percent of students have positive job outcomes after graduation and employers continuously recognized IYRS graduates as being prepared, Nathan said.

“This is a fantastic organization that is doing exactly the right sort of thing for education at the right time for what America needs in the terms of education in learning practice skill. So their tag line ‘Make Anything Possible’ is what is going to happen,” said James A. Hilton, Board of Trustees and Development Chair.

From IYRS:

The guests gathered in Restoration Hall for the cocktail reception and silent auction clad in outrageously casual outfits set to the tunes of The Beach Boys. Guests also enjoyed having their pictures taken in a vintage 1973 Volkswagen Micro Bus by HippiePix Mobile Photo Booth. Following the cocktail reception the guest were seated for dinner in the tent which had been transformed into a festive beach party atmosphere filled with Tuscan tables, strung bistro lighting, floating beach balls topped off by a sand dance floor.

Following dinner was an energetic live and reverse auction conducted by Courtney Booth Christensen, Vice President and fifteen year veteran of Sotheby’s— who has been involved in numerous notable estate and single-owner sales at Sotheby’s, including the Estate of Brooke Astor, the Estate of Edward P. Evans and the Collection of Patricia M. Kluge. The top-earning auction item of the evening was a miniature ship model by Donald McNarry. Other live-auction items included a stay in a WIMCO Oceanside villa in St. Barth’s during the St. Barth’s Bucket regatta with transportation provided by Tradewind Aviation, a set of two Peter Layne Arguimbau oil paintings, a private dinner for twelve at the private estate Ocean Highlands with Chef Lou Rossi of Castle Hill Inn and a IYRS crafted replica of a Herreshoff Colombia Sailing Tender. Gala guests were also enthusiastic donors in a reverse auction for equipment, tools and technology, ensuring that students continue to have access to the state-of-the art equipment that is critical to their IYRS learning experience.

The evening was capped off by a lively performance by The Beach Boys that kept guests jamming out to the good vibrations on the dance floor and beach balls bouncing until late night.

This year’s Gala attracted a strong lineup of corporate sponsors. Joining title sponsors Jaguar, the Prestige Family of Dealerships and Tiedemann Wealth Management were Argo Group, Atlass Insurance, Bacardi, Bank Newport, Blue Hill at Stone Barn, Boat International, Casey’s Marina, Castle Hill Inn, Condé Nast, Custom Charter Yachts, Dom Perignon, Gowrie Group, Gustave White | Sotheby’s International Realty, The Hilton Group at UBS, Lemon & Line, Lila Delman Real Estate, Marine Documentation Inc., Newport Storm, North Technology Group, Paolino Properties, Sean McVeigh Media, Sirena Marine, Sunbrella, Tradewind Aviation, Vanquish Boats, Vintry Fine Wines, Washington Trust, and Whitehawk LLC., WIMCO Villas and Hotels.

IYRS School of Technology & Trades is a world-class experiential learning school with an education model dedicated to teaching highly technical and deeply craft-oriented career skills. The school’s legacy was born out of a mission to preserve the craft of making, building and restoring in the marine trades. Currently, IYRS has three accredited programs and regularly collaborates with post-secondary schools of architecture, preservation, industrial design and engineering through short-term classes, including recently with MIT, Harvard, RISD, Roger Williams and others. The skills acquired in IYRS’ programs are applicable across a broad range of industries and with a wide range of materials from traditional wood to modern composites.

For more information, visit www.iyrs.edu

Video Credit Sean McVeigh Media

Video Link: https://iyrs.wistia.com/medias/1hjj4gh4aq

Photo Credit: Jack Renner