THE gentleman seated in the row in front of mine is one of three people who places a $4,250.00 winning bid on the Nintendo Wii Fun Center. Next, he puts down $2,500.00 for a tour of the Kennedy Space Center. Then $2,500.00 for a dinner for four at the ultra-exclusive Rao’s, which has fewer than 10 tables and a reputation for bodelicious pasta sauces.
Who is this guy? Granted, he didn’t part with $7 million for a Picasso and two Reniors, but he was in a bidding/buying frenzy. After he gets up to leave, I follow with my digital voice recorder. “I do not comment,” the serial bidder demures politely, declining even to give his name.
He does, however, own up to being a supporter of the Starlight Children’s Foundation of NY, NJ and its 20th Annual Star-Studded Sports Auction at Madison Square Garden.
When Yours Truly last basked in the glow of SCF it was July and in progress was a rooftop party, which was as good an excuse as any to raise funds to support seriously ill children in the Tri-state area and their families, which are its raison d’etre. (See vevlynspen.blogspot.com/2009/07/starlight.html). Tonight's (Tuesday, 10 Nov.) auction serves the same purpose. It’s also an opportunity to honor select athletes (i.e., Al Harrington of the New York Knicks, former baseballer Ralph Branca) for their good works.
Here are some choice items up for auction: VIP passes to the New York Giants training camp ($3,000.00). Some kid, perhaps one that SCF serves, will likely have an opportunity to be a Knicks ball kid ($1,200.00).
Meanwhile, some of my newest BFFs put out for Starlight, too. Brian F. drops close to $1,000.00 on a Kevin Boss (Giants tight end) jersey for his mother-in-law, and a Judith Ripka diamond ring for his wife. At the JR table is also a pair of nifty earrings bearing my birthstone (peridot), tantalizing me all night. I do not fall into temptation, nor strangely (alas) does anyone else.
BF’s brother-in-law and Giants fan, Ned S., also places a successful bid at JR that will make his woman happy, but I must digress to express my excitement about NS’s willingness to be my Dallas Cowboys ticket broker and director of ground transportation when America’s Team meets the Giants on 6 Dec. in the Meadowlands.
NS spends high several hundred for the diamond/silver earrings valued at $1,300. Initially, he said they would be a Christmas present, but later flip-flopped, deciding he would present them to the Mrs. tonight. Something about them being a sort of sleeping pill. Hmmm ... Oh well, it’s all part of the $300K and counting for a good cause.
Visit www.starlight-newyork.org to learn more about the auction and the Starlight Children’s Foundation.
Posts
No comments :
Post a Comment