St. Michael’s School enjoys successful school auction

Posted on December 14, 2023 by Ryan Dahlman

By Anna Smith
Commentator/Courier

St. Michael’s School in Bow Island hosted their annual supper and school auction on December 1, and are endlessly grateful to everyone who came out to support.

“The focus for the night was really our community and how grateful we are for them, and that our community, whether it be our school community, the community at large, or our business community, that our supporters have really become like our family over the years,” said Michelle MacLean, one of the organizers of the event. 

The event was a success, raising approximately $36,000 for the school. This number is high for the event, said MacLean, as they usually raise somewhere within the $25,000 – $35,000 range, and the school is thrilled to be able to continue to support various programs and needs for their students with the money raised.

One highlight was a bottle of Weatherhead Whiskey, a special edition creation made my Rolling Hills’ own Pivot Spirits in honour of Earl Weatherhead and his family. 

“There was a donation from Pivot Spirits for a bottle of this Weatherhead Whiskey, which is a limited edition,” said MacLean. “I believe there were 200 bottles made. And then the Weatherhead family, combined some pieces of Earl Weatherhead’s collectible tractors. And then his son Jeff also donated a couple of his collectible tractors, and they made this beautiful case.”

The collection was easily the highest bid of the night, said MacLean, and the history of the piece made it one of the highlights of the evening.

“It’s just nice to see that, you know, our community has become our family and our donors and bidders have become our family too,” said MacLean. “They’re just so supportive of everything, and it was nice to see that extra bit of support for that particular item.”

MacLean expressed her gratitude to the committee, which makes the whole event possible, as well as their sponsors, but also the children of St. Michael’s School, who have been a part of the entire process. 

“I think they were just as excited to be in the room. And they’re always, you know, participating in walking around and checking out all the items and asking mom and dad to buy certain things,” said MacLean. 

Three of the Grade 11 students had put together a PowerPoint presentation for the evening, highlighting where the dollars raised would be put to use for attendees, such as extra programming, field trips, and technology uses for the older students.

“And then we had two of our other students in Grade 12 students go around and display our live auction items so that everybody in the room could see them,” said MacLean. “It’s good to see that the kids are even involved in the whole process of things and understand the importance of the auction and want to help contribute.”

The school auction is the only major fundraiser that the school puts on each year, making the success of the event critical for helping make the education that students enjoy possible. MacLean and the committee expressed their gratitude for everyone who make the auction a part of their holiday shopping, or simply stopped by to support.