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We Got To Move These Refrigerators
The fundraiser went off last night pretty much without a hitch, so far as I could tell. I was tabbed for the rather unglamorous job of directing patrons from the parking lot to the event site, but it was a pleasant evening, and nice to spend some time in the out-of-doors.
As a result, however, I missed most of the pre-auction events, but still, it was fun to hang with a bunch of my theatre friends, many of whom, like myself were roped into helping out by the Event Coordinator, who is also one of our gang. We even had our own table set aside for the live auction portion of the evening, although, being poor artists, I think only myself and one other person even bothered to secure bidding numbers.
Now, I'm nowhere in the league of your typical fundraising auction participant, many of whom have sufficient disposable income to drop several thou during the course of an evening without so much as batting an eye or doing the mental math to figure out how much more they're going to have to shell out for next month's credit card payment. Still, it's all for a Good Cause, right? Plus, I do have a knack for scoring amazing bargains on items that are ridiculously underbid. And last night was no exception.
I made a couple of half-hearted bids on some things early in the proceedings (Garrison Keillor doing your voice mail greeting, among others - sorry, Rachie-Rache), but when people are willing to pay $800 for a box of donuts, you know you're in amongst some relatively heavy-hitters. Even so, at a certain point a sort of "shopping fatigue" begins to set in after patrons have upbid on the big ticket items, and of course the freely flowing alcohol pushes them over the edge from being loose with their wallets to becoming downright sleepy and inattentive. So, I was able to literally steal one particular package, late in the evening, when everyone else was either literally heading for the exits, or dropping off into a post-prandial, post-bidding doze. Ironically, it was also the one package I was asked to display for the auctioneer, so I had a stand-in do the bidding, which turned out to be a no-contest.
And so, for a measely $250 here's what I scored:
- One Pair Oakley Thump 1 Gb MP3 player/sunglasses combo - Value $400
- A "Northern Exposure" crew jacket, previously owned by former "NoEx" Location Manager (and current Seattle Center Events Development Manager) Vicky Berglund-Davenport - Value $250
- A Gift Certificate good for four admissions to the "Eve Of Destruction Demolition Derby" at The Evergreen Speedway In Monroe - Value $70
- One "Collectors Edition" DVD of "Cold Mountain", autographed by Jude Law - Value - well, certainly more than the $20 retail price of the DVD itself.
Clearly, this was the "grab bag" package - there's usually at least one in every auction - where all the miscellaneous items that don't really fit anywhere else get tossed together. And although I was really only bidding for the jacket (hey, I worked on about a dozen episodes over the years - I'm entitled), the rest of it was just icing on the cake - and at a considerably more affordable price than some actual cakes that were auctioned off earlier in the evening.
Now I just have to learn to deal with the inevitable, "Why does your jacket say "Vicky" on it?" questions. But, you know what? I can live with that.Labels: events, Theatre
Posted byCOMTE
on 10:33 AM
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