Spencer fall festival to be held in new parish center

By KATIE LEFEBVRE, Globe staff reporter
Nov. 9, 2006

SPENCER - The fall festival at Sacred Heart Parish in Spencer will be held Nov. 18 in the new parish center.

This year's theme is "Celebrating Mardi Gras Style." The evening will celebrate the addition of the new parish center as well as raise money for the school.

"This is the biggest fundraiser that we have every year," said Julie Hawley, who along with husband Brad are one of the couples to co-chair the event. "Most of the proceeds help with different expenses at the school throughout the year."

The two other co-chair couples are Steve and Janine Huss and Chuck and Amy Illg. The committees for the event include the food and beverage committee, business acquisition committee, personal acquisition committee, tickets committee, dessert auction committee, publicity committee, decorations committee and banking committee.

"There are so many volunteers and so many different aspects that you feel a part of this big event and get to know people. It is a good way to get to know people throughout the parish," said Julie. "It is a fun evening."

At 4:30 p.m., Mass will be held in Sacred Heart Church to begin the evening followed by a social and viewing of auction items in the parish center.

Julie noted that since the festival will be held in the new parish center, more thought and planning has gone into the evening.

Dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m. including jambalaya or pork loin, roasted potatoes, mixed vegetables, lettuce salad and bread. Sherbet will be served for dessert.

Like last year, there will also be a dessert auction, noted Julie. People throughout the parish contribute a gourmet looking dessert to be auctioned. Last year was the first year this was done and there were 11 desserts raising $1,300. This year there are 14 desserts slated for the auction so far.

"We found that people would buy the desserts and share them with their table as well as other tables," said Julie. "It was a very fun addition to the evening."

Three hundred raffle tickets are sold that evening and presented after dinner. The prizes given for the raffle include one - $5,000 grand prize, five - $500 prizes and 10 - $250 prizes.

Another highlight of the evening are the live and silent auctions. The silent auction goes on throughout the evening. The live auction is held after the raffle.

"Throughout the auction, we play reverse BINGO," said Julie. "Someone calls a number and if you have that number you sit down. There are six games total."

Some of the live auction items include a 20" flat screen TV, Sacred Heart School tuitions, a kayak, an emerald diamond ring, a trip to Las Vegas, principal for a day and Name the Lane. Items for the silent auction include Ipods, digital camera, pictures, etc.

The evening will conclude with a dance.