New event location, many new committee members, new way to bid…same great event! The Annual Celebration Dinner and Auction was held on Friday, June 2, 2023. Over 120 members and guests attended to mingle and bid on over 130 silent auction items and 8 live auction opportunities. Our resident “auctioneer”, Stuart Hoffman, led the Live Auction portion with his usual wit and tongue-in-cheek comments that led to a ton of laughs and some competitive bidding. Abe and Emilee Van Dyke worked hard to collect and organize all the auction items and managed to get everything set-up in the new online bidding app that was used for the Silent Auction portion of the event. This technology allowed those who could not attend to bid on items…and some of them were the highest bidders! Guests enjoyed listening to live music from Millie Edwards Nottingham and two musicians who were hand-picked by Kevin Briggs. The event was held at the Martin Event Space located off Holmes Road in Kansas City. Attendees were able to enjoy a great atmosphere inside and out – and the weather was perfect! The event raised over $34,000, all of which supports the general purposes of the church including education of children and adults, community outreach such as hands-on service projects in various local agencies addressing houselessness and hunger, music performances such as choir and bell choir, building utilities, and overhead to support church and community services including Alcoholics Anonymous, Scouting programs, and grief support.

A HUGE thank you to the committee members: Scott Branton, Kevin Briggs, Marilyn Dreas, Becky Hopkins, Lindsay Howes, Nancy Lear, Bill Martucci, Tere Naylor, Genny Nicholas, Emilee VanDyke and Abe VanDyke. In addition, this event would not be possible without the generosity of our Benefactors: Carla Aday and Dave Ehman, The Brumitts, The Buckleys, Brian Campbell and Amy Brown,The Cockles,The Cyphers,The Daniels, The Dreas’, The Ellermeiers, The Gallaghers, Lisa Hickok, The Hoffmans, Ryan Holmes & Glenn Mills, The Holts, The Ireys, The Jensens, The Lears, The Martuccis, Mary McClure, The Naylors, Sally Nielsen, The Pasleys, The Snyders, Deanne Stedem and David Forsee, The Thompsons, Tom Van Dyke and Kay Barnes, The Walkers, and Fritz Zschietzschmann. Also thank you to all of the donors that helped make the event a success!

[envira-gallery id=”16514″]