Wednesday, May 11, 2011

my last benefit (lyn)

Tonight is Horace Mann’s biggest fundraiser.  I don’t want to go.  I’m never that comfortable at big fancy events.  But of course I do go.  Shari is the chair, and I want to support her.  And, it’s my last one.

This year’s event is themed From the Bronx to the Bowery, and is held at Capitale.  This gorgeous space was designed in 1895 by Stanford White for The Bowery Savings Bank.  It is truly magnificent.  I check-in and am asked if I’d like to receive an electronic device to use for bidding during the silent auction; I decline.  This way I can't buy anything, even though I recognize my action goes against the spirit of the evening, which is to raise money.

Everyone is dressed up and looks great.  Parents I see all the time are barely recognizable in their fine jewelry, makeup, and exquisite dresses.   As people mingle with drinks in hand, hors d’oeuvres are passed.  They are excellent and exotic, but few in number and tiny in kind.  By the time we sit down for dinner, I’m starving.

Unlike past Horace Mann benefits, dinner is not a buffet.  I find a few friends and we sit at a table, near the front of the stage.  We are served a salmon salad and I have a piece of bread, with butter even.  The live auction begins.

Our head of school is the emcee this year, and he excels in the role.  Five or six big-ticket items are auctioned off, and a few people bid a lot.   It’s entertaining for the less-moneyed attendees to watch, and good for the school.  Every year the same generous person raises his paddle and donates a full-year’s tuition (almost $40,000).  While the bidding is going on, the main course (mashed potatoes, filet, and vegetables) is served.  My glass of red wine keeps getting refilled. 

I leave my table and walk into the lobby and see two friends from the football team.  We hug and have a nice mini-reunion, as I haven’t seen them since the fall.  They are leaving so I decide it’s a perfect time to exit too…before dessert.

But as I am walking out, I pass little Chinese takeout containers, filled with school-colored white and maroon M and M’s. I take one for me and one for Alexander.  It’s a nice way to end the night.

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