On the 3rd of October, Erin Bregman and I, (Ryan Mueller) got word that we had a space available at El Rio community center in SF to do a fundraiser. The time available was 9pm to closing on October 17th, two weeks away. Sitting at a coffee shop in Berkeley we thought what could we do? What would bring in good money, be fun and totally rock the casbah? We ran through the ideas- a party with a cover, a dinner party, live music or performance art? And then the idea came- a LIVE AUCTION! Perfect! Jewels Eubanks, and Chris Cotone, good friends from college are auctioneers. We called him that minute and although he had an auction on the 16th and 18th, both in LA straddling our auction, he said yes. Game on!
With Erin heading the event, we asked everyone and anyone we knew if they would donate goods- art, photographs, theater tickets, massages, scavenger hunts, a house in Tuscany, workshops, exotic ski resort tickets, wine, food. And in one week, we pulled together the auction lot you see in the blog below. Not too shabby right?
In the next week, we ordered rentals we would need, got the programs lined up and made certificates for the winners. The whole TEMA crew told everyone we knew, went to REI and put out a table, and put up fliers in town. We got people to help with the event (Erin’s awesome roommates!!), a professional photographer (Lane Allen), a dj to spin (DJ Os Chavez), two dancers (Cherise Richards and Brittani Karhoff) and a physical comedienne (Summer Shapiro). We had a movie made for presentation and photo’s for the silent auction donated by our film crew from NY. All these pieces came together to make an incredible event.
The night was terrific, with DJ Os Chavez spinning a blend of good tunes, the room was packed as the dancers began their sensual expression. Summer Shapiro tore the house down with her one woman bit complete with pasta all over the place, dueling men (over her of course) and multiple gun wounds. Then Jewels and Chris took the floor to begin the vibrant live auction. Professionals in the world of auctioneering, they perform marvelously together- if you ever get a chance, they are entertaining beyond your imagination. The cover at the door, silent and live auction all together brought in an amazing $6,125.
See photo’s of the event from Lane Allen here.
It was truly an amazing collaboration of great people from Erin who spearheaded the event to the most bodacious performers to Michelle, Cooper, and Julia who were all-purpose all-starts, Erin’s parents helping parking cars, and friends flying in from Washington and Santa Barbara. It was an amazing event, a testament to who we are! The Extra Mile Adventure community is extraordinary, alive and adventurous!!
