St. Mary’s annual Winter Warm-Up fundraiser is Feb. 21
This is not your average, run-ofthe- mill banquet.
For the fourth straight year, St. Mary’s School adults will not be acting their age as they present their Winter Warm-Up fundraiser.
Past celebrity guests have included Willy Wonka and Cupid, and there’s no telling what’s in store for this year’s gala, which will be at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 21, at The Caboose.
“This idea … we thought, ‘Let’s give people a fun evening and really just ask them for a donation — one time, instead of 10 times a year,” said organizer and SMS parent John Lanoue.
The idea for the event was born just a few years ago at a People’s Club meeting that included leaders of various fundraisers.
“Andrea Schreier asked, ‘What new fundraiser should we try to do?’” SMS parent Kassidy Arnold said.
That something new is the Winter Warm-Up, which has grown in popularity over the years and quickly turned into a big money-maker for the school. The event has replaced more traditional fundraisers that had families selling items door-to-door. Those fundraisers, which some would argue have run their course, brought in anywhere from $500 to $5,000, but were small potatoes in the school’s effort to reach their lofty goals.
“It got to the point where we were in the middle of a fundraiser, and we’d kick off another fundraiser,” Lanoue said. “We were just bombarding these families with fundraising. We have busy families, the culture has changed, it’s harder to track people down.”
All the money raised at the Warm-Up is put back into the school. And the event is a winwin, as the school is giving something back to donors — not selling them something they may or may not even want. And that would be one of the most memorable evenings of their year.
“It got to where we’re just trying to entertain people,” said Arnold. “We’re selling a show. We want everybody to be entertained. They come out and spend some money and leave saying, ‘I want to come back next year to see what they do.’” Neither Lanoue nor Arnold would divulge what’s in store this year, but if history is any indication, it should be another memorable night. And the self-deprecating antics that go on at the Warm-Up truly do give banquets a new meaning.
“When you love something or someone, you’d do anything you can for that person or that thing — in this case, we both love what St. Mary’s does for us,” Lanoue said. “That causes you to do some foolish things sometimes, make fools of ourselves. Kassidy and I like to have some fun with it.”
And they’re not the only ones who have fun. Winter Warm-Up organizers like Lanoue and Arnold know that they have set a new standard in winter fun.
“The second year we kind of wanted to throw people off a little bit and have this grandiose entrance,” Lanoue said, referring to the Willy Wonka presentation that included a trio of Oompa Loompas entering from the back of the room. “We came up with a skit that involved us dressing up. It was the end of our candy sales at the time, so it was a natural tie-in to go with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.”
Last year, Arnold donned a toga-type outfit to portray Cupid, as the event nearly coincided with Valentine’s Day.
“That was more my idea; I was pretty excited about it,” Arnold said. “After the first year, we felt that we needed to outdo what we did before.”
“In order to see us do something kind of silly, you have to attend the event,” Lanoue said. “I tend to embarrass myself often, I guess.”
The silent auction is atypical as well. Along with a live auction, there’s an online version that is already live. Auction items range from a stay at a condo in Key West and Vikings rug, to bakeware, tickets to a college football game and the coveted “Golden Shovel.” There are also opporunities to bid on “Fund a Need” items that go to classroom supplies and the SMS music program.
“The first year, we had something like 400 bidders, and there were only 200 people at the event,” said Lanoue. “It’s fun to kind of dig in and come up with some creative silent auction items. Every year, we’ve been able to find things that are kind of different.”
The Warm-Up also includes a Beef Raffle, a Wine & Whiskey Raffle, a 50/50 Raffle, Reverse Bingo and a Dessert Dash.
The auction website is smswinterevent. givesmart.com
