JET Band Winter Dinner Concert & Silent Auction...

on February 4, 2008, was a HUGE success!
It was a great evening filled with wonderful music, delicious food, fabulous shopping, and a welcome opportunity to visit with other JET Band families... and now we have reports in from both our Auction & Dinner Chairpersons to confirm what a successful fundraiser it was as well!  Please take a moment to read their reports and list of acknowledgments:

From our Auction Chair, Mari Kramer:
Thanks to everyone who participated in making the silent auction so successful!
Thanks to Debbie Petty for functioning as a "co-chairperson" for the event, and for her involvement and contributions with every aspect.

Thanks to Cindy Crochet for her computer and organizational skills--for preparing spread sheets, bid sheets, and more!

Thanks for Susie Kolodziej for coordinating the respective "Band Baskets" and for working with each band's designated coordinator.

Thanks to all of the "band coordinators" for soliciting and collecting items: Vivian Phillips, Sandi Dunlap, Debbie Petty, Margo Schermerhorn, Margaret Ewald, Brenda Shaver, and Terri Brodecki.

Special thanks to Vivian Phillips for obtaining from her business contacts a huge donation of fine haircare & toiletry products that gave us at least a half-dozen more baskets for the auction and enhanced numerous other baskets.

Thanks to Ellen Strauss, Cathy Delaney, and Marianne Rezigh, for packaging the items in baskets and for making them all so attractive!

Thanks to the Board Members who assisted in a variety of ways-- soliciting donations, set up, closing, etc.

Thanks to all of the Band Parents who donated items, with special thanks for the handmade donations: the beautiful t-shirt music quilt made by JET Band grandmother, Diane Labunsky, and the four fleece spirit blankets and other THS spirit items made by Barbara Young.

Thanks to everyone who "regifted" items, and to those who donated coveted tickets to the Rodeo, the Shell Open, and The Houston Ballet!

Thanks to all of the Band parents and families for "shopping the auction" and supporting the JET Band. Hope that you all feel that you brought home some great values!

Finally, please patronize the following businesses that donated items to our auction:
Archiver's
Bagel Café
Barbara Young- Embroidery and Personalization
Bistro 829
California Portrait Club
Chef Thai
CiCi's Pizza
Chipotle
Dapper Dan Cleaners
Décor N More
Double Dave's
El Jarrito
EmbroidMe
Guayaba – Latin grill and bar
H & H Music Co.
Harwin of Katy
Hasta la Pasta
Jennifer Rucker, Rucker Designs
Judy Chisolm @ Highland Salon
Katy Flower Market
Kolache Factory
Massage Envy
Denise Mazurek, Beauticontrol Consultant
Nails by Lee
Pampered Chef
Panera Bread
Pei Wei
Piccomolo
Plato's Closet
Rucker Designs
See What Develops
Skeeter's
Sonic
TCBY / Mrs. Field's Cookies
Times Square Entertainment
United Tae Kwon Do
Whispering Willow Florist
YMCA

Not every business we approached agreed to donate, so let's really go out of our way to thank those that did. A lot of area businesses consider their donations a means of exposure, and if we want them to repeat their generosity, it's important to let them know that we appreciate their support!

When everything is delivered and all the money collected, we expect to make approximately $5,400 in auction proceeds -- not bad for three (long!) weeks of work!
Thanks again,
Mari Kramer, Auction Chairman

From our Dinner Chair, Gretchen McCormack:
Thanks very much to the many volunteers who helped out, whether serving dinner, taking tickets, working the bake sale, and all the other tasks which made the dinner go smoothly. Very special thanks go to Laurie Sawyer who functioned as my co-chair and helped with all the planning and all the duties the afternoon and night of the event.

Thanks to Cheryl Hollabaugh who coordinated the bake sale, and to Michel Hendon who helped her with bake sale duties that afternoon and all evening. Besides the delicious desserts we all enjoyed, the bake sale alone raised over $400!

Thanks to the creative group who helped us with set up and decorating: Kathy Miesner, Chris Crockett, Martha Clark, and Arden McCormack.

Finally, a very gracious thanks to Hasta la Pasta for their generosity in working with the band and catering the dinner. We earned almost $2,200 in net proceeds from the dinner!
Thank you,
Gretchen McCormack, Dinner Chairman

DRUM ROLL, PLEASE.... the Dinner & Auction combined earned approximately $8,000 for JET Band!  Wow!  Let's not forget to thank Mari Kramer and Gretchen McCormack for their outstanding leadership of this event!  

(posted 2.13.08)