Diamonds, pearls and cotton tees create magic at Community School Auction
Posted on Thursday December 16
This year marked the 30th anniversary of The Community School’s fundraising auction, celebrated in style at The Rockport Opera House on November 12.
The Opera House was transformed with glittering lights, white table cloths, holiday greens and over 200 fabulous auction items.
Tables were strewn with pearls, there were fabulous hors d’oeuvres and desserts, and lucky bidders walked away with everything from a stunning diamond necklace to Boston Red Sox tickets.
Brevetto Kitchen and Wine Bar provided elegant hors d’oeuvres, and auctioneer Bruce Gamage delighted the crowd with his usual good humor and expert auctioneering.
One of the highlights of the night, however, turned out to be sixteen basic cotton tee-shirts.
Of course, these weren’t any old cotton tees, but hand designed original pieces of art, created by students themselves.
At the urging of board member and auction chairperson Mary Jane Schotte, and with the assistance of art teacher Tom Butler, the students set about creating their own tee-shirt designs, which were reproduced onto cotton shirts, and sold for one hundred dollars apiece during the live auction.
In fact, bidding was so competitive that the last tee sold for $150, raising a total of $1,650 for student tuition assistance.
Tee shirt themes ranged from Passamaquoddy symbols to lobster designs and peace motifs, and each shirt was accompanied by a short narrative from the students.
When students learned that their shirts had brought in over $1,600 for the school, they were thrilled.
“This project was awesome,” student Ayla Johnson said, “because we were able to embrace our creativity, utilize individual expression, and give back to the school at the same time.”
The success of this year’s auction was made possible through the generous support of hundreds of local businesses and volunteers, and The Community School would like to thank all of the many auction donors and sponsors, all food donors and volunteers, and everyone who came out in support of this important event.
