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Tasked with organizing Coulee Christian School’s fall fundraiser, officials decided to try something considerably different this year.
“At first, we thought we’d do “the same-old, same-old’,” said Marliss Katsma, the event’s co-coordinator. “But then we started to say ‘What if we did this?’ and ‘What if we did that?’ and it just grew into this fun event.”
That fresh approach resulted in a threefold event they’re calling the Big Event. “We’ve got a good committee that has put in a lot of work,” Katsma said. “Fortunately, we’ve been blessed with so many local people getting on board.”
Among those who’ve signed up to help out are Kristina Smaby, the reigning Miss Wisconsin, former Milwaukee Brewer Damian Miller and Grammy award-winning musician Bill Miller.
All three will be among the celebrity judges on Sunday, Nov. 15, when a talent show extravaganza will be held in the school’s auditorium. Auditions will begin on Nov. 2, and will be aired on YouTube. Entry forms for the talent show and all the other portions of the Big Event are on the school’s Web site,
www.couleechristian.org.
Cash prizes will be awarded for the talent show winners, and the first-place winner will receive a free photo shoot with The Studio.
Organizers did not want to overlook other kinds of creative talent, so, in conjunction with the Big Event, there will be an art show at the school throughout the weekend that will feature photography, sculpting and painting. The entry fee is $10. “We’ll be putting photographs of the art up on 0ur Web site,” Katsma said.
In addition to the talent show, there will be dodgeball tournaments Saturday. The competition will offer fun prizes for the novice division and a $500 cash prize for players 14 and older. Entry fees for the competitive division are $100 per team of seven to 10 players.
“Besides the $500 first prize, second prize will be $250, third prize is $100 and everybody gets a T-shirt,” promised Katsma.
The championship game will be held about suppertime (exact times will depend on how many entries are received), and Damian Miller has agreed to serve as celebrity referee for that event.
Meanwhile, also on Saturday, there will be a trivia competition with eight different categories held in the school cafeteria. Cash prizes and gift certificates to Living Word bookstore will be awarded, with amounts dependent on the number of entries. The entry fee for the trivia contest is $75 per team.
“In the past,” Katsma said, “we had the same old banquets and fundraisers, so we wanted to do something this year that’s not only a little different but fun and a community event.”
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