By Sandra Gedeon, Business Manager
Bing Nursery School celebrated its 25th year of Harvest Moon auctions on Nov. 9, 2013, at the Stanford Arrillaga Alumni Center. This year’s theme was “BINGO: Celebrating [the auction’s] 25 Years on the Farm.” The annual fundraising event raised an amazing $450,000 for the Bing Scholarship Fund, which provides assistance to over 20 percent of the children who attend Bing. As in past years, Helen and Peter Bing were strong supporters, with a generous gift of $50,000.The co-chairs for the 2013 event, Hays Hyre, Julia Popowitz and Stephanie Oshman, introduced new ways to raise funds. Among their innovations: an online auction (which raised $30,000); an outreach to businesses and families to become sponsors of the auction (raised $97,000); opportunities for businesses to place ads in the auction catalog (raised $20,000); and a Web-based donation form so donating items would be more convenient. They also expanded the Bing Photo Book, which not only included teachers’ photos but also featured families’ photos in exchange for their donations. The book, which will be a treasured keepsake for years to come, raised $15,000 for the Teacher Development Fund.
Guests were greeted with a “down on the farm” theme, complete with barns, hay and farm décor. A large barn mural was the stage backdrop and the auction tables were decorated with sunflowers in milk jugs, baskets full of fruit and cornucopia. Adding to the excitement of the event was the presence of 10 49ers cheerleaders, who were dressed as cowgirls and passed out cocktails. Bing invited previous auction chairs to celebrate the anniversary. Some who took part were Cindy Welton, ’94 chair; Allison Dwight, ’96 chair; Michael Olmstead and Lynn Brown, ’02 co-chairs; and Jaspi Sandhu and Corina Martinez, ’03 co-chairs. We were also honored to have Helen Bing in attendance.
One highlight was the “Best of the Barnyard” category, which raised $35,000. This category featured one-of-a-kind items, such as the beautiful “Bing book crate” created by Bing carpenter Gene Aiken and teacher Jeanne Zuech and filled with books donated by the Bing teachers and staff. Other highlights were events, including a Chinese New Year dumpling party, children’s Valentine party, Alice in Wonderland tea party, Bing train ride, Bingo fiesta and a “Hoedown on the Farm” party (which together raised over $64,000); live auction items, including a 49ers package at the new 49ers stadium, courtside tickets to the Golden State Warriors, a performance by the Stanford Band and a “teacher tuck-in” by Bing’s own teacher Peckie Peters (together raised over $50,000). The tuck-in with Peters was so popular, three of this item were sold. We also auctioned over 50 different themed baskets, including “Under the Sea” and “Kids Can Cook,” which were created and assembled by parents in each of the classrooms. In total, over 600 items were up for sale.
In keeping with the theme, our auctioneers, Bing parent Nate Olmstead and Bing alumni parent Warren Packard, dressed in cowboy hats, boots, plaid shirts and jeans. They brought humor, energy and enthusiasm to the live auction. Bing teacher Todd Erickson was our DJ for the evening. Our newest Bing CD, The 25 Favorites, a compilation of songs from the previous six Bing CDs, debuted at the auction. All CDs were produced by Beth Wise, Bing’s assistant director.
We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation and thanks to the auction co-chairs for their tireless work. We are also extremely grateful to our parent volunteers—over 200 strong—who worked on over 20 committees. A special thanks to those who donated to the auction and to those who attended. The tremendous dedication of our parents, Bing teachers and staff made the auction what it was—a tremendous success!
We look forward to seeing everyone again at this year’s auction, Bing2014 Auction Royale, on Saturday, Nov. 8, 2014.