The Gala

When I was considering volunteering to chair Aidan's school's Fall Gala, I knew I couldn't do it without help since I have never been in charge of a fundraiser of this magnitude. (or, of any type of fundraiser really.) I decided to convince my Aunt Cathleen we should be co-chairs. I told her it would be fun. (I may have overstated that just a bit.) I also convinced her it would be a perfect end to her last year as a parent at Nativity since her last child graduates onto high school this spring.

I was so grateful she agreed. I was also grateful that the rest of our families stepped up just as willingly to help us with our duties. My family and friends gave generously of themselves to help us make it a success. Without (much of a) complaint, my aunts, uncles and I hosted a gift gathering party at a local restaurant to collect donations for the silent auction. My Aunt Nancy organized a raffle for a huge television. Chris created digital signage for the event. Everyone attended and many family members were also put to work during the gala. (And if they weren't working, they were bidding left and right on anything available at the auction. My mom and Aunt Linda took home some impressive hauls. My mom even took one for the team when she bid on a vase donated (and possibly re gifted several hundred times) by my grandmother.)


It was truly a family affair. While I was more stressed than I thought possible for most of the planning and evening of the event, I was grateful, once again, for my family and their constant support. I even loved talking with my fellow co-chair my Aunt Cathleen approximately one hundred times a day.

Our Nativity logo martini luge (which was probably the biggest hit of the evening):

A pre-event family planning meeting to discuss duties:

Chris was assigned the management of the Blizzard of Bucks with a trusty assistant, my cousin Liam:

The co-chairs, breathing a sigh of relief that it is almost over!

My Aunt Linda testing the Blizzard of Bucks:

My grandfather, the card shark dealer, who was assigned a Black Jack table for our Beat the Dealer game. He was quite the hit with the guests, complete with his playing card tie and dealer outfit!

Business at our Beat the Dealer game stayed steady through out the evening:

Nana and I getting in some dancing to the DJ in between sips of our cosmos!

And a picture I wish I had, but don't - a photograph of the end of the night, when the last two people there are my Aunt Cathleen and me, and she has decided she must have all of the balloons left at the Gala for my cousins' Patrick and Nicole's birthday party the next day. We couldn't fit them through the door and finally we both collapsed in a heap, stuck in the middle of a hundred or so balloons, laughing so hard we cried.