St. Paul Auction 2008

What an incredible evening!
By Lianna Stover, Auction Co-Chair 2008

Well, the auction has come and gone and I wanted to share my reflections on
what occurred during our Olympic celebration.

Arriving at the Auction was like walking into Olympic Stadium with the beautiful
pillars gracing the entrance and the Olympic flag waving proudly along aside
our USA, Missouri and Christian flags. Mr. Giesselmann welcomed our guests
and led them into the Hall of Nations where they received their Program Guides
and bid cards. The halls were decorated with flags from many nations
handcrafted by the students as well as many of their own works created in
anticipation of the Olympic event. These artists really helped to spotlight the
focus of the evening: our students and their futures.

With seven countries (rooms) to visit, the Silent Auction gave our guests the
opportunity to bid on a great variety of items. There were hundreds of items
again this year including official 2008 Bejing Olympic memorabilia, Hollywood
pre-release items, gift certificates, antiques, things for "Him, Her, and the Kids"
and, of course, the homemade baked goods that were causing quite the stir!

After Pastor King offered prayers of thanksgiving, dinner was served. During the
dinner, a slideshow of "St. Paul Athletes: Past and Present" photographs were
shown. Even some 'future' St. Paul Athletes were given the podium.

Opening Ceremonies brought a parade of our amazing teachers through the
gymnasium lead by Mr. Giesselmann carrying an official Olympic Torch.
Auction Committee Chairs, Tony and Lisa Mengwasser, welcomed everyone
and spoke of what it means to them that our teachers, guests and donors have
all Carried The Torch in order to Light The Way for our children. Julie Powers,
on behalf of the Auction Committee, surprised us by presenting plaques of
thanks to Tony, Lisa and me. And then an explosion of streamers filled the
gymnasium as our guests were invited to help kick off the evening. The shiny
metalic streamers joined hundreds of white doves and blue balloons floating
through the air.

With several spins, the Drawing Tickets were shuffled about in the cage and
Brad Detring, Auctioneer, reached in for the Bronze winner of $2000 cash:
Sharon Schwartzkopf. Then tumbled again, Brad drew Nancy Krekeler's ticket
for the Silver prize of $3000 cash. Before we could go any further, the
Krekeler's notified us that they were giving back their prize to the school! What
an amazing gift! And the cage was spun again ... for the Gold prize of $5000
shopping spree at Krekeler Jewelers ... and Nancy Eaves' ticket was drawn.
She was truly astonished and it took a few moments for her to believe!

The microphone was turned over to Brad Detring and the Live Auction was
under way! Over one hundred items were auctioned including trips, quilts and
fleece throws, sports tickets, services and furniture. The "Class Baskets" were
above and beyond again this year and included a handcrafted loft-bed/desk
unit, flat panel TV and foose-ball table, complete office furniture set, a sauna,
an over the top cafe/bistro set, ATV, garden ensemble with trellis and even a
motorized cooler! Yes, cooler with a trailer-cooler and horn!

But even the best things must come to an end and our Olympic celebration
was no different. Our guests left and the St. Paul Youth Group came in to clear
the gym and silent auction rooms. But by about 1am, Tony asked us all to
gather around and he shared with us a preliminary total of funds raised for the
evening. The generosity of our donors, sponsors, guests and community had
blessed us with well over $100,000 in a single evening! And by the next
afternoon, that total had increased again!

I'd like to ask that each of you look at the Sponsors and Torch Bearers pages
of this website and the individuals and businesses that donated items to our
auction this year (found in the Program Guide). Without them, our auction
would not be a success. Please consider doing business with them!

My deepest thanks to all of you for your generosity, Tony and Lisa for their
dedication and leadership, the Auction Committee for their perseverance, and
praise be to God for helping us to Light the Way!

Sincerely,
Lianna Stover, Co-Chair