Advertisement Many of the attendees were there to support OFFEE and its educational grant program and still others were there because they heard about it and thought it was a good way to beat the winter doldrums and get out of cooking dinner.
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The Onalaska Foundation for Educational Excellence’s second
annual Taste of Onalaska fundraiser, drew a big crowd to the
Stoney Creek Inn for an evening of food and entertainment.
Photo by Peter Thomson |
Pete Woerpel, principal of Onalaska High School, was in control of the microphone encouraging people to keep the bidding going. He was happy with the turnout.
“This is very well attended,” Woerpel said. “I’m just pleased that from the first year, this is a whole different group of people who just happened to hear about it. I just hope it continues to grow. It’s a positive thing for the students and the district.”
When they weren’t at the silent auction tables or buying raffle tickets for the Chinese raffle — one theme basket from each school — people waited in long lines to sample tasty offerings from each of the food vendors around the room. There was praise for all the offerings from attendees who couldn’t decide on any favorite because they were all so good.
After the silent auction items disappeared, the dance floor was emptied of auction tables and refilled with dancers enjoying music by the local group, the Pinsetters.
The happiest people there were recent recipients of Claude Deck Innovative Education Grants. In the 2009-2010 school year, OFFEE awarded a total of $5,000 through seven grants to teachers with interesting projects that could not be funded through school budgets.
It was the first Taste of Onalaska event Teri and David Faulkner attended. “It’s a good cause. OFFEE does so much for the educational system and we wanted a night out away from the kids and Teri didn’t want to cook,” David said.
Teri was also celebrating her first time being a recipient of an OFFEE grant. In her 11th year at Onalaska, Teri is the district’s literacy specialist, but she’s been an educator for 37 years. Through a $900 OFFEE grant, Teri was able to obtain multiple copies of Jodi Picoult’s book “My Sister’s Keeper” as reading material for students in the biotechnical classes.
“The budget situation is very tight and funding is going to essential needs,” Teri said. “But we need to provide support and enrichment for the students. The book is being used by juniors and seniors because it raises bioethical decisions in a language and with characters they can identify with.”
OFFEE President Pat Chilsen estimated about 250 to 300 people attended. Although the numbers aren’t all in, she thought the preliminary numbers showed the event was more successful than last year’s inaugural Taste of Onalaska.
“We were all very happy; it was very successful,” Chilsen said. “We would like to give recognition to our corporate sponsors and our auction donors and the entire community. It was exciting to see the community recognizes what we do and they want to be a part of giving back.”
The organization has awarded $55,969 in teacher grants since 1998. Still more has been awarded over the years for special grants. OFFEE provides assistance to all Onalaska schools, public and private.
Chilsen said they were already planning for the third annual event. “We want to continue to do it as a community event,” Chilsen said. “It was exciting at the end of the evening to say ‘Wow.’”
