The Centrum Gala Dinner & Auction

A Sense of Place: Centrum's 2008 Gala

The theme of Centrum’s scholarship fundraising Gala for 2008 is “A Sense of Place,” celebrating where we live and what nourishes us; as well as giving together to transform lives and build community. It will be held on November 15, from 5:30 to 9:30 at the Fort Worden Commons in Port Townsend.

The Gala is changing focus slightly this year and will concentrate on great food and atmosphere as the main experience of the evening. Venue decorations and exquisite table settings will be a compliment to the specialty cuisine for approximately 350 guests.

Musician Darol Anger is to perform during the evening and guests will also have a chance to purchase fixed price specialty trips, adventures and experiences from a Gatherings Catalog to premiere that evening.

Gala food will be a rare treat this year. Fort Worden Executive Chef Jay Payne—former owner of Port Townsend’s Wild Coho Restaurant—is planning an unique three-course meal that will spotlight locally produced and grown items that are prepared and presented in the best manner of great culinary traditions. The dinner is being presented by Bon Appetit Management Company (BAM) who manages the Fort Worden Commons. To assist Commons staff for the evening, BAM is bringing a large group of personnel from another of its venues—the Seattle Art Museum’s TASTE Restaurant.

Also coming from Seattle will be three additional chefs who will prepare hors d’oeuvres during the Gala’s opening welcome and reception. Guests will have the opportunity to sample and watch these items being made by: Craig Hetherington, TASTE Restaurant, Seattle Art Museum; Tamara Murphy, Brasa Restaurant, Seattle; and Adam Stevenson, Earth and Ocean Restaurant, W Hotel, Seattle.

The Gala is $125 per person and is open to everyone. Please call the Centrum office 360.385.3102 x116 for reservations and more information.

Centrum visits air museum

Ten winning-bidder Gala patrons followed active volunteer and retired Boeing executive Bob Bogash, around, under, and in some truly historic aircraft, at the Seattle Museum of Flight's Restoration Center at Paine Field in Everett. Leah Hammer provided box lunches and everyone had an awesome time. Thanks Bob and Leah!

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Centrum Gala 2008

A Sense of Place
The Centrum Gala
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Bon Appetit at The Fort Worden Commons

more to come soon...

Gala Adventures at the "Wild Card Saloon"

On Saturday February 9, 2008 Centrum Gala attendees who bid on places at the "Texas Hold 'em" party, arrived at the "Wild Card Saloon" (AKA Harry & Zoe Ann Dudley's house) and were "staked" to a stack of "Texas Chips." Prizes were awarded to the "big money winners" at 10 pm but the game resumed until either all the food and drink ran out (around Wednesday), or when someone had all the chips. Players wore their best "Texas Hold 'em" outfit “to dazzle their competition and increase their luck.”

Looks like everyone had a darn good time. On behalf of all whom benefit from Centrum’s programs THANK YOU Harry, Zoe Ann, Paul, David, Teresa, Bill, Patti and John and Donna!!!

Photos by Sarah DuBose

WHAT WE WILL DO FOR CENTRUM!! - Cindy Thayer, Centrum Board member

It’s going to be fun, we thought.  Gail Boulter-Burgler and I had donated a holiday wine tasting party with Joe Euro of the Wine Seller, for the Gala auction.  This would be our second year.  The first event didn’t go as smoothly as we would have liked, and we were looking forward to having a party with no glitches!  This year it would be PERFECT!!

We met to set up the Saturday before the event at the Saunders house and all went well.  The heat was on and we zipped through in record speed.  We would meet the next day at 3:00 to finish the set up for a five o’clock party.

We unlocked the house on Sunday and entered to find the temperature about 50 degrees!  No heat.  After trying to restart the furnace, we determined that the owner was out of oil – on a Sunday - and 2 hours before our event.  Quick thinking by someone in the group sent the men to gather up space heaters while we women finished the food preparation.
(Four space heaters to heat over 4,000 square feet.  What fools we were!) As the oven began heating, we discovered that it only heated to 175 degrees- and we needed 450, quickly!  And we soon learned that, since there was no oil, there was no hot water.  Not a good start to our PERFECT evening.

Our husbands, Harry and Kevin returned with space heaters, and, after blowing a few circuits, we managed to get them working.  At about 3:45, we began to wonder where Joe Euro was.  He was supposed to be here at 3:00, as well. Almost as quickly as we spoke, he appeared, looking just like a disheveled street person! Evidently, he had gone down to the store (on his day off) for just a few minutes. It was so busy, he stayed all day, and when he left the shop his car would not start.

Alas, but there is more!  He brought in the glasses, while commenting that they needed to be washed, since they had been used at an event the night before.  Remember, no hot water at the Saunders house.  So, Harry and I, living only a couple of blocks away, rushed home at 4:00, heated the oven, washed the glasses, cooked some appetizers, and arrived back just in time for the party.  While we were doing that, Joe ran home to shower and he arrived just in time, as well.

The party went on, with everyone wearing their coats.  After a few glasses of wine, no one seemed to mind.  Oh, the glory of being a volunteer!!

Centrum Gala Catalog

Reservations for the Centrum Gala are sold out, but we are taking names for a waiting list. If you would like to have your name placed on this waiting list please contact Sue Cook at 360-385-3102 ext 117.

Guests at the Gala will receive our Gala Auction catalog, but if you can't wait, we invite you to download the Centrum Gala catalog online.

If you are not able to attend the Gala and there is something you would like to bid on, we can arrange an absentee bidder to bid for you.

On behalf of the board of directors and all who benefit from Centrum programs we are most grateful for the huge community support we have received this year for Centrum’s Gala. Thank you!

Petals Provides Flowers for Gala

Centrum is pleased to announce that Petals Flower Shop in uptown Port Townsend is most generously donating all of the flowers for this year’s Gala celebration. On behalf of Centrum’s board of directors, the staff and all who benefit from Centrum programs, we are most grateful to Petals for their remarkable generosity. Centrum is honored to be associated with Petals and applaud their leadership in community philanthropy. The theme for this year’s Gala is Imagine, which in essence is where all art begins, in the imagination. The 2007 Gala will be an elegant celebration of artistic excellence and philanthropy, Petal’s flowers will grace the tables and stage with their own artistic excellence and imagination. Please visit their store when shopping for flowers and thank them for their generous support of Centrum and the arts in Port Townsend.

Gala announcement letter

The Centrum Gala Dinner and Auction is an elegant social evening and a very successful fundraiser for Centrum. Last year, the sold-out event generated over $230,000 for Centrum programs and scholarships, a new record. One hundred-fifty volunteers worked all year to make the evening happen. Five hundred individuals and businesses donated beautiful objects, valuable services, and unique experiences to the auction. And 330 patrons raised their paddles to support Centrum.

We are excited about building on that success.

We are extremely grateful to our Presenting Sponsor Kitsap Bank for significantly underwriting this year’s Gala. Their support reminds us how the event is a true celebration of Centrum’s support in the community. The theme for 2007 is Imagine, because at core that is what Centrum has always been about. Many thanks to Gala chair Jean Marzan for her creativity in coming up with this theme.

We will be working with Dream City Catering, which promises a whole different kind of culinary experience than Gala patrons have known in past years, utilizing fresh and organic ingredients, and sustainable produce from local and regional farms, creating an innovative and distinctive menu saturated with flavor.

To create some “breathing room” in the evening for social interaction, and honor the sense of community that is so much of what Centrum is all about, we are scaling back the size of the silent auction. Our focus in both the silent and live auction will be on experiences—artistic events, educational experiences, vacations, day trips, cultural tours, gourmet dinners, and fabulous parties. We invite you to help us create and put packages together that will be alluring to Gala patrons and inspire generous buying in support of Centrum.

We will present a photo-documentary of Centrum’s 2007 programs by Fawn Art Photography. Special guests—artists and students whose lives have been changed—will tell their story and remind us why we come together on this special night. The evening will be a celebration of your philanthropy.

Table Host Co-chairs Cindy McBride and Holley Carlson will be soliciting table hosts again this year but you certainly don’t need to know a table host to attend. The Gala is a very popular event, last year we did sell out, and encourage anyone wanting to attend to let us know early. Look for your formal invitations late summer, or just give us a call. If you have any questions, we welcome them and look forward to hearing from you, and save the date—October 13!

Thank you for your commitment to creativity.
   
Mary Hilts
Gala Coordinator         
(360) 385-3102 ext. 116

Presenting Sponsor for the 2007 Centrum Gala

Centrum Seeks Development Director

Centrum is seeking a Development Director to develop, nurture, and manage over 1,500 individual and institutional relationships to inspire $1,200,000 million in annual charitable giving. If you're interested in joining a dynamic and passionate team, read more at The Centrum Information Center blog.

The Centrum Gala

Mark your calendar for October 13, 2007!

Centrum’s vision is to be a gathering place for artists and thinkers from around the world, students of all ages and backgrounds, and audiences seeking extraordinary cultural enrichment. Centrum’s annual fundraiser, The Gala Dinner and Auction, helps make that vision a reality.

The apex of the Port Townsend social season is a dazzling evening of philanthropy, fine food, and fashion, and a celebration of Centrum’s commitment to artistic excellence, personal transformation, and community. Imagine!--a gala dinner and auction--is Centrum’s largest fundraiser. It is always a sell-out.

Businesses and individuals donate generously to the auction offering an array of special experiences- trips, dinners, and unique events and items. On auction night, 350 attendees—dressed to the nines—engage in friendly competitive bidding. In 2006 over $230,000 was given in celebration and support of Centrum. The event is conceived and run by an extraordinary cadre of volunteers whose dedicated support for Centrum’s arts and creative education programs infuses the evening with a wonderful spirit of philanthropy and community.

Mark your calendar for October 13. Host a table, bring your friends, and get your seats early!

For more information, please call Mary Hilts at 360-385-3102 ext 116 or e-mail mary@centrum.org.