Posted on March 3, 2003

 

We received a lot of support from the media in letting everyone know about the event in advance, including The Press and Argus, WHMI, local cable channels 18 & 22, and local businesses that posted the event on their billboards as well.  That was a key factor in our success.  I also want to thank all the businesses that donated products and services to make the auction successful.  We had great participation by students in the community, who put on a great show.  Barb Binckley and the Brighton Bouncing Bulldogs were terrific and deserve special mention! Many thanks are also due the Hamburg Township Board for allowing us to broadcast on Channel 18 and broaden our coverage area. As mentioned during the broadcast, there was a small "army" of people who assisted in pulling this together and they are due recognition.

The entire TV production crew was organized by Bill Tupper, who donated his time and equipment to make this all possible, and we are very fortunate to have his help.  Tom McCurdy was a huge help in coordinating things technically at the school, donating his full day on Saturday as well. Tedd Bradley was the silent man behind the scenes coordinating all the facility needs.  Diane Totten worked an amazing amount of time on everything from coordinating auction items, to publicizing the event, adding adult talent to the show, and creating the backdrops for both TV sets. We had a number of other getting donations for auction, including my husband Brent, Sue Wilson, Janice Hereford, Patti Cameron, Theresa Clark, and Michele Kerr. Theresa Clark and Shirley Marshall helped auction with setup on Friday night.  And of course without the last minute support of Diana Baka, the auction would not have come together at all.

We aired a video made by CNC Connection from a PowerPoint presentation created by Nathan Yungkans, recent graduate in Graphic Arts from CMU.  This was one way of thanking our "Big Ticket" donors who gave us items and services or cash as sponsors of our event.  Additional thanks to our sponsors can be viewed here.

The talent MC's were local residents Debbie Kaiser and Bob Grimm. They did a great job working with the kids and keeping the show going. The behind the scenes crew working with the talent were Tammie Havermahl, Patti Cameron, Sandy Grundy, and Laurie Haidler. And of course, the show would not have been possible without Mike Bitondo on the sound board and the full crew of Directors Gordie Taylor, Mike Moorehouse and Mike Henderlong, and the camera crew who staying with us the entire day.

Our judges were: Linda Moskalik, Bill Cheal, and Diane Totten, who evaluated the entrants based upon Content and Execution of the performances as well as adherence to guidelines. See the Newspaper article for the winners.

The talent segment of the show seemed to flow quite smoothly, and we had done more planning on that side than on the auction side. The auction side was hectic, and we have documented some really great ideas to make the next one go more smoothly. Theresa Clark helped with the auction process to start the day and Betty Henderlong and Shirley Marshall kept the process going all day. With some key help from Julie Haggerty and Gary Kaiser at the computer, we managed to keep up fairly well.

Our MC's did a great job of keeping the bidding on some of the bigger items going. Dan Cutright and Dick Cowdrey, two local school principals, were our experienced MCs that kicked off the auction for us. The next team was Reverend Kurt Hutchins and Howell High School student, Jeff Merrill. Superintendent of Schools, Mike Couchman teamed up with Kevin MacRitchie (TMZ Farm and Pinckney True Value Hardware) and then Julie Wood of WHMI. Kevin stayed on to also team with Jeff Teachout, from the Pinckney Village Board and Central Michigan Lumber.


Several of the Lions Club members are helping us contact those who had the final bids on items and disperse the items from the Board of Education office during first few days following the event.  What remains can be picked up at The Lakes Grille during regular business hours.

Thanks to all our terrific volunteers that helped throughout the day!  Click here for the schedule.


Click Here for more information on remaining auction items