Get out your glad rags for the 25th annual Gifft Hill School Gala Auction on Saturday at the Westin Resort and Villas.
“All the proceeds benefit the scholarship fund,” Development Director Beth Jones said.
The event begins with a cocktail reception starting at 5:30 p.m. Dinner follows at 7 p.m.
An after-party will be held from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. at La Plancha del Mar in Mongoose Junction.
Tickets are $125 a person or $1,000 for a table of 10. Those who pre-register will receive a discount of 10 percent of the price and enjoy expedited check-in and check-out.
This year’s Gala Auction honors the schools founders: Janet and Andy Rutnik, Debbie and Donald Schnell, Peter and Dorothy Muilenburg, and Victor and Anna Johansen. They started the school in 1978 with four students. Jones said the school now has 165 students.
“We’ve educated thousands of children,” Jones said.
Among those currently attending the school are two of the Rutniks’ grandchildren and one of the Muilenburgs’.
The cocktail reception will showcase the Silent and Art Auctions. Featured artists this year are Andrea Anderson, Les Anderson, Karen Calandra, John Dickson, Lisa Etre, Maho Glassworks, Janet Cook-Rutnik, Bob Schlesinger, Bernice Shaller, and Mary Vargo.
According to Jones, those who can’t attend can bid online for auction items.
The event features the “Golden Auction,” in which the winner has a choice of prizes. Tickets for the “Golden Auction” cost $100 and are limited to 200. Prizes include a seven-night culinary tour of Italy with TourUmbria, a seven-night stay at Sonnenalp Resort in Vail in a junior suite for two adults and two children, a six-night African safari with Zulu Nyala, a five-night stay in St. John’s Jungle Stone villa, three nights at W New York and dinner at Nobu, a week’s stay on the coast of Maine in a 3-bedroom house for as many as 10 people, a sunset sail on Kekoa for 40 people with music and hors d’oeuvre, an epicurean experience at Villa EcoSerendib with four-course dinner by Mathayom Private chefs, wine and limo service, plus many packages. The Mediterranean cruise is not included in the “Golden Auction” offerings.
For the second year, the auction showcases the Wall of Wine. Starfish Gourmet Market Manager Paul Tsakeres will help auction goers select any wine they’d like to donate, store it until the event and donate 10 percent of the purchase price back to the school. One lucky oenophile will walk away with the entire "wall" of approximately 100 bottles by winning the Heads or Tails game at the auction.
The evening offers $25 glasses of fine champagne, wine and signature cocktails. Jones said the purchase of each glass includes a silver and diamond jewelry set from R. & I. Patton.
Sponsors and contributors include the Westin, Prestige Wine Group, Fatty Crab, AB Cellars, Karye Carney of Islandia Real Estate, Rhumblines, Alfredo’s Landscaping, Kate N Design, Outside the Box Solutions, Suite St. John, Darron and Hope Meares and Steve Simonsen.
Anyone interested in attending, donating, or purchasing Golden Tickets can contact Jones or Molly Murrill at 776-1730 or [email protected].
A full list of auction items appears online at www.giffthillschool.org/auction.