Sacred Heart Fall Festival to benefit parish and school

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
October 16, 2003

SPENCER - The 11th Annual Sacred Heart Fall Festival will be held Nov. 8 at the Spencer Convention Center. This year's theme will be "Knights of the Round Table."

"It's been such a great event," said Susan Zulk, one of the host couples along with her husband. "Primarily, it does serve as a fundraiser for the parish and school. However, it's a wonderful fellowship opportunity. People really enjoy it, and I think it gives us a chance, while we are fundraising, to learn about each other and the needs of the parish and the school."

The events for the evening will begin with a Mass at 4:30 p.m. followed by a social hour at 5:30 p.m. Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. A silent and a live auction will begin at 7:30 p.m.

Hundreds of items will be featured in the auctions. Some of the items include tuition packages to Sacred Heart School, a diamond necklace, a moped, bikes, golf items, electronic equipment, wonderful handmade items including quilts, furniture, canned goods and baked items such as the popular "pie a month." People also donate services such as house cleaning or babysitting.

Each of the classes at Sacred Heart School, kindergarten through sixth, has a fundraiser through which they donate or buy items to be auctioned.

"It's fun because the kids get involved and parents are really involved as well," said Zulk.

This year's second graders sold Avon and raised close to $600 or $700. They are donating two family trips to be auctioned - one to Sioux Falls including gift certificates for fun activities and dining and the other to Owatonna, Minn. to stay at the Holiday Inn's indoor water park. Third graders are donating electronic equipment; fifth graders are giving youth golf clubs; sixth graders are donating a bike; first graders are giving some lovely home decorating items; and fourth graders are still deciding on how to spend the approximately $400 they raised from a recent pop can drive.

The festival also provides a large and a small raffle. The small raffle is $5 a ticket. The small raffle will be giving away a dinner for six at a restaurant including a limousine ride, gratuity and everything that goes along with it.

The large raffle was added a few years ago and only 400 tickets are sold each for $100 with a one in 20 chance of winning. The grand prize winner will receive $10,000; four winners take home $1,000; five winners receive $500; and 10 participants win $250. Sometimes, family or friends might decide to split the cost of a raffle ticket and split their winnings, explained Zulk.

After the auctions there is a dance with a DJ. This year for the first hour "music through the ages" will be played.

"If we started with some of the big band tunes, then some of the older couples may have fun," said Zulk. "Then we might move onto some 50s and some other things and mix it up after that. We want everyone to get involved and be appealing to everyone. I think this will be a fun addition."

Another of the fun events of the evening is Reverse Bingo. Festival goers can purchase bingo cards and four different games are played, all with great prizes awarded to the winners. At the beginning of the game, everyone with a card stands. If one of your numbers is called, you sit down. The last person standing is the winner of that game!

There is a large group of people involved in planning this event. They have a committee of four couples that are the main co-chairs. For each couple, it is a two-year commitment. The first year the couple is in training, and the next year they are senior co-chairs.

"It takes a lot of volunteers to do this," Zulk mentioned. "By the time you have the different class projects, you will have parents helping with those. Each of our committees are organized with two people or two couples putting someone in training with someone with a little experience from the year before."

Zulk and her husband are in their second year. The other couples include Troy and Kim Upah, Wayne and Rhonda Helm and Kurt and Karen Bauermeister.

"The number of people who have a hand in the success of the Fall Festival is incredible," said Troy Upah. "We have people donating items, hosting gift gathering parties, helping with tickets or decorations, selling raffle tickets, planning menus - too numerous to mention but all very much appreciated."

The proceeds of the event go to the parish and the school. A large part of the proceeds go to support the Sacred Heart elementary school such as helping with computers. There are also other projects within the church that need the support such as a building project or to help with teacher salaries, noted Zulk.

"We really hope many people will join us for a fun evening of fellowship and friendship on Nov. 8," said Kim Upah. "It's a great opportunity to visit with fellow parishioners, enjoy a great meal, fun music and support our parish and school."

Tickets are currently on sale for $25 each. Their registration deadline is Oct. 27. For more information about tickets or the event contact Sacred Heart in Spencer at (712) 262-3047.