Cars, cruises, a private airplane and a safari

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Cars, cruises, a private airplane and a safari

Schools raise funds with high-end auctions

by Audrey Dutton | Staff Writer

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Gift certificates for dinner at the local pizza shop will have a hard time holding their own against much of the wow-factor fare available to the highest bidders through school auctions.

European vacations, new cars, passes to Redskins training camp, excursions to the Big Apple and scores of other impressive temptations are being offered across the downcounty as both public and private schools undertake their annual fundraisers with silent, live and online bidding.

Georgetown Prep in North Bethesda will raffle off a black 1966 Ford Mustang convertible with red interior. And an African safari. And a week in Cancun, Mexico.

‘‘I hope I win — as does everyone else who buys tickets, I’m sure,” said Georgetown Prep spokesman Brian Gnatt.

The school’s gala and auction on May 3 is open to the public. Mary Wilson of the Motown girl group The Supremes will be the star entertainment for the night. At $400 per couple for tickets, the event is a major fundraiser for student scholarships.

The Harbor School in Bethesda held an auction March 1 with a warehouse-busting 923 items. Bethesda’s Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic School holds an auction and gala in April to help the school build a library media center.

The Academy of the Holy Cross in Kensington just ended high-end online bidding last night, raising $5,850 by mid-afternoon.

At a gala Saturday night at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel, bidders will compete for cruises and getaway packages to golf resorts, Europe and New York City for Broadway shows — trips valued at up to $10,000. The grand prize of a raffle that night will be a 2008 Pontiac Solstice or $17,000.

The Holy Cross auction is open to the public. It benefits financial aid and student programs.

The Oneness Family School, a Montessori school in Chevy Chase, holds its public auction Saturday at the National Press Club in Washington.

The school has sold about 200 tickets so far; the event is open to the public.

The annual event benefits student scholarships and the teachers’ retirement fund, said Sarah Pekkanen, a Chevy Chase parent of a first-grader and second-grader at the school.

Among the auction items will be VIP passes to Redskins’ training camp, vacations, a flight on a private airplane and a cocktail party for 30 people.

The crew team at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda wrapped up an auction event on Thursday night, drawing an estimated 150 people.

Proceeds from the auctioned items — including a beach house weekend, math tutoring and an Indian dinner — will go toward equipment for the team. New crew boats cost about $30,000 each.

‘‘It exceeded our expectations,” said Sangeeta Agrawal, a crew parent who helped organize the auction.

The Bullis School in Potomac holds its annual gala Friday, replete with a safari-themed silent auction, dinner and live auction.

‘‘We will be in resort wear, on safari,” said Laura M. Blades, Bullis spokeswoman, with a laugh. The Bullis event is not open to the public.

Auction season headliners

The Academy of the Holy Cross

6 p.m. Saturday at the Bethesda North Marriott Hotel & Conference Center, 5701 Marinelli Road, Bethesda

Call 301-929-6470 or visit www.academyoftheholycross.org

Oneness-Family School

6 p.m. Saturday at the National Press Club, 529 14th Street NW, Washington

Call 301-652-7751 or visit www.onenessfamily.org

Our Lady of Lourdes

6 p.m. April 12 at the school