“The Bear Facts”
April 10, 1999
Good morning! I’m Melanie McGuire!
And I’m Bob Brandenburg! Welcome once again to the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.
It’s that time again – the biggest weekend of the year for fundraising at Garrigan and Seton. That’s right, it’s time for Gala, 1999! This year’s Gala-goers will be spending “A Tropical Evening in Paradise” as they help support the Algona Catholic Schools. All week long students have been helping to get the gym ready, and once again there are some spectacular decorations to dazzle the guests all evening long. In keeping with the theme, this year’s guests will be greeted by Hawaiian dancers dressed in grass skirts, and the waitresses will wear flowers in their hair as they serve the Gala meal.
That meal should once again be a sumptuous feast. The eleven courses feature some of the finest food ever served in Algona. It all starts with the appetizers – salami coronets, fruit skewers, and elegant finger sandwiches. Then there’s the soup, which this year is a roasted pepper combo. This year’s salad includes spring greens and fresh berries with paradise dressing. That’s followed by a pineapple sorbet, which cleanses the palette before the main course. That main dish s a tempting portion of steak Neptune, with island cheddar bake potatos and tropical green beans on the side. Dinner guests will also enjoy table wine and toasted mini croissants with honey butter stars, and they’ll top things off with a Hawaiian walnut pecan torte.
There are lots of chances to win prizes at Gala. The biggest prize is probably the car raffle, where 450 tickets were sold. The grand prize winner will receive either a Dodge Stratus or a Chevy Malibu from an area dealer. Six runners-up will receive big cash prizes. Then there’s the key club, where a ten-dollar donation earns a chance to win a big screen TV. In the Half-Chance game, gala-goers buy cards that give the chance to win cash. For the Last Chance, the table centerpieces are auctioned off, with one of them earning its owner a $2,000 vacation.
Most of Gala centers around the auctions. All night long guests can write their bids for hundreds of items that are displayed on the silent auction tables. Most of these items were donated throughout the year at gift gathering parties that were thrown to benefit Gala. Some of the items go high, but most bidders are hoping to bring home a bargain from the silent auction tables.
The big money is spent at the live auction. Many of the live auction items are practical things like a year’s worth of oil changes, a freezer full of meat, or fifteen tons of crushed concrete. Many of these items sell for far more than their actual value, with guests considering their bids to be a donation to the school. There are also several items labeled “priceless” in the Gala catalog, which have no real value but bring in the highest bids of the evening. They include reserved “showpiece” seats at athletic events and the chance to be principal for a day at one of the schools.
The biggest of the big-ticket items has traditionally been the right to name the drive by the Garrigan gym. Over the years, that drive has carried the names “Meister”, “Hall”, and “Studer”, with those families and others continually topping each other’s bids. We’ll let you know how this year’s bidding came out on next week’s show.
This week has been sort of different at Garrigan. Nearly half of the students were in Texas all week. They were band and choir members who went to Dallas for a special critiqued performance. The rest of us were in school everyday, but we didn’t have our ordinary classes. Instead we participated in “Stewardship Days”, a time to tidy things up at school, and help out with special projects in the community. We spent a lot of time raking, painting, sanding, sawing, wiring, and picking up trash. It was hard work—but working with our muscles was at least a break from always working with our brains. While not everyone liked the week, there weren’t a lot of complaints, and school administrators were pleasantly surprised that attendance was even higher than on normal school days.
Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on two of the members of tonight’s Gala waitstaff: Phil LaFleur and Heidi Pierson. Here to give you the scoop on them is Doug Besch.
Phil LaFleur was the one nominee for Homecoming royalty that we didn’t feature on Senior Spotlight last fall. Phil, who people often call “Bill” is a Burt native who enjoys choir and quiz bowl. This National Honor Society member has also been a manager or trainer for several of the Golden Bear sports teams. Phil will be off to college next year, and we wish him all the best.
Heidi Pierson comes to Garrigan from the Algona area. She is part of the group that will be off to Cedar Falls next week for the annual Model United Nations Assembly. Heidi is also active in publications, where she works on the school newspaper and yearbook. In addition to her Garrigan classes, she’s also taking courses at Iowa Lakes Community College. She’ll be a full-time college student in the fall. Good luck, Heidi!
Thanks, Doug! On this week’s Golden Bear calendar, tonight’s the night for Gala ’99. Then tomorrow there’s CYO track at Fort Dodge St. Edmond.
Monday it’s back to classes as usual. That day sophomore Marian Studer will be performing her prose selection “The Waltz” at the All-State Speech Festival in Cedar Falls.
Tuesday the girls’ track team runs at Algona High. Then on Wednesday residents from area nursing homes will be visiting us here at Garrigan. Wednesday night, the golf teams play St. Ed’s.
Thursday morning the student council will meet. There’s a confirmation retreat that night at the KC Hall, and the boys’ track team will be running at Lake Mills.
Thursday, Friday, and Saturday Garrigan will participate in a joint art show with Algona High. You can see the creations of both Golden Bears and Bulldogs on display at the Algona Public Library.
Next Friday the girls’ golf team hosts Webster City. Also that night the boys’ track squad runs at Estherville. Finally next Saturday there’s a math contest at Luther College and we’ll have cheerleading try-outs for the 1999-2000 school year.
That’s the “Bear Facts” for another week. Thanks for listening, and be sure to tune in again next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.
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