Candlelight Capers

I went to my first and likely last, big benefit dinner Saturday night. The beneficiary was the rural trauma outreach program and since that is what I do, it was in my best interests to be there. I must say it was interesting and I had an enjoyable time, but I won't seek out going again.

It was interesting seeing all the pretty gowns. You could tell those who had a lot of money had spent a lot of money on what they were wearing. My work group, while perfectly presentable, were more humbly dressed than the beaded and coutre gowns that went by.

If you look at the photo closely you can see the back of the Ogau's heads just behind us. It was fun to see them there. My boss is on the back right hand corner. Victoria and Anita finish the back row. The front row is myself, Sue and Sandy. Tami's husband was also there, but he was taking the photo for us.

It was a beautifully appointed room. The music was too loud. They had a band with several singers and a couple of girls who did temptation sort of things while the other folks sang. They were wearing long white dresses with elbow length gloves. They looked kind of silly to me.

I did bid on a couple of doggie items in the silent auction but didn't get them. My boss bid on and got, Dr. Detlefs to fly her and her husband in his plane to Sedona for a breakfast. Dr. Detlefs is very nice and they will have a good time.

For me, one of the funniest parts was when my boss entered into the live auction. She was bidding on a package that included flying on the Suns team plane with them on a 2 day road trip. She was really nervous as the bidding got up around 5000$. Her husband had mixed feelings. Dr. Ferrera was at the next table and was egging her on. It was pretty hilarious. He kept telling her if she went up another 100$ he would kick it in. What she really ended up doing was jacking up the price of the package for the guy who was bidding against her. Since it was all for a charitable cause, it was ok.

They had 2 Golden Retreiver puppies that went for 7000$ and 5000$ a piece. At the end of the package deals, the auctioneer was soliciting donations. I was amazed at people dropping a 20,000 or 10,000$ donation. I won't ever be running in that crowd.

The funniest story I heard about the evening, Victoria told me the day after. She and Anita had come together and they left at midnight, the end of the evening. They were standing in line at the valet, waiting for Victoria's car. Anita leaned over and told Victoria, that's Dr. Willis up there, the neurosurgeon. They talk to him on the phone all the time, but had never met him in person. Both were shy of going up and introducing them selves, but Victoria stepped up and they both met him, his spouse and another one of the docs from the practice. The valet came up with both their black cars at the same time. Victoria went to the trunk of her car to put something in. When she finished she got in and looked ahead to see Anita sitting in the passenger seat of Dr. Willis's car. Anita said Dr. Willis looked at her and said "Do you need a ride?" Dr. Willis's wife was standing outside the car looking at her. Anita was mortified, apologized and got in the right car. What a hoot!