The Celebrate the Seven auction last night was beyond incredible. I am overwhelmed by the support that people showed of the chimpanzees and the sanctuary. Beyond the financial success of the evening (which we’re still tallying), just seeing everyone in that room at the Abbey having a good time and learning more about the Cle Elum Seven was something I will never forget (and, of course, something I hope we can repeat!) I want to thank everyone who participated. It would take a novel to thank everyone individually, but here’s a start:
*Helen Payton of Blue Sky Productions for donating her valuable time, knowledge and expertise.
*Karen and Don Young, our Honorees, for kicking off the Fund-an-Item donations by starting off the greenhouse project with their generous at-a-distance donation of $20,000
*Pam Lahnert and Marc Warner for your incredible support. Pam was involved in every aspect from beginning to end and recruited an amazing crew of her friends to volunteer at the event. Then she and Marc gave so generously at the auction, including a matching gift of $2500 for the greenhouse. In case you were wondering – it was Pam, with the help of her crew and Booshoot Gardens, who transformed the Abbey into a green escape.
*Kathy Cochran of Cochran Productions who kicked off the fund-an-item with a $2500 gift. She also designed all of the blog-post and live-auction posters for the night, plus the Sanctuary: Year One book that we had available for people to order (look for it in the website store soon).
*Margaret Parkinson and Karen Creason who gave so generously at the auction on top of Margaret’s contribution of artwork, including the much-talked-about Negra in the Sun and her work on the Sanctuary: Year One book. Margaret and Karen – I hope you see 300 eagles on your float trip donated by the Bersches!
*Jack Butcher – congrats on winning the Foxie’s Lucky Troll ticket! And thanks for turning around your fortune to the chimps in the Fund-an-Item.
*Laura Michelak, auctioneer genius. No more needs to be said.
*Michelle Esteban was the greatest Master of Ceremonies. I’m so glad that the Cle Elum Seven brought her to us.
*People RAVED about the food, which was donated by Araya’s Place, Pizza Pi, The Essential Baking Company, Field Roast Grain Meat Co., Fredericks Catering, Healeo, Montlake Ale House, Two Tartes Cafe and Catering and Upper Crust Catering.
*The wine donated by Cedergreen Cellars, Naches Heights Vineyard, Chinook Winery and Northwest Totem Cellars was fantastic – and poured by great people!
*How about those “chimp-tinis”? Cascade Peak Spirits has something pretty incredible going with their Organic Nation vodka and gin.
*Ambience Jazz Quartet with vocalist Leah Natale and saxophonist Tobi Stone for literally providing the ambience for the evening.
*Our business and individual sponsors – thank you for offsetting some of the costs of the evening: Abbott’s Printing, Pom Wonderful, Theo Chocolate, Sterling Savings Bank, Alphagraphics, Bruce and Deb Wagman, an Anonymous friend of the Cle Elum Seven, Barbara Lauterbach, Michelle Coburn, Gregg and Tracy Baeckler, Jessica Martinson, Olive Kemp, Victoria Gwiasda, Nicole Shaw, Melissa Davis, Cara Wiseman, Rosanne Galak and Heather (Wynn) Kerr.
*All of the generous individuals and businesses who gave auction donations. You impressed and pleased a lot of people.
*The Chimpanzee Sanctuary Northwest Board of Directors for supporting the event both before and during. I’m so glad all of the local directors were able to attend.
*The volunteers and staff (i.e. Jackie and Elizabeth) who helped pull the whole thing off.
Now it’s time to build that greenhouse and allow the chimps full access of the outdoor area all winter long!
YEAH…i sall we can say along with a very loud pant-hoot!
Congrats!! You and the chimps richly deserve this success!
The event sounds amazing! Congratulations.
It all sounds great, I thought of you all last night down here in Texas. I’m so excited it was such a great turn out and a big “thank you” to everyone who participated in it.
Can someone explain “the greenhouse”, I haven’t read anything about it until now.
The night bags were also a great success. It was an opportunity to talk more about the chimps and their daily life. Thanks to everyone for an enjoyable, wonderful, and prosperous evening.
Last night was a lot of fun and a huge success! Thanks so much for everyone’s hard work and generosity! Diana and Pam- I’m speechless.
Candy-
The greenhouse project includes enclosing the outdoor area in a greenhouse material so the chimps can spend more time outside enjoying the sunshine during the winter. The panels will be removable, so we can put them on piece by piece as it starts to get cooler, and take them off piece by piece when it starts warming up. There will also be an area for caregivers on the parameters of their fence so we can still serve them, play, and hang out outside with them. JB can tell you more about the details, but it’s a very innovative and exciting project that should really help to alleviate some of the cabin fever we all get during our long, long winters here. Hats off to JB for a fantastic idea! I can’t wait to see it in action!!
I can see you had a great evening and mades tons of new friends and money to help the the Sanctuary, I was sudt wondering about Tamelas work of art, I did not see Tamelas name mentioned on this list, how did her artpiece go, I know she worked so very ard on that and it was definately a one of a jind piece made be a one of a kind person?
Good gosh, thanks Jackie, what an undertaking this will be, but quite innovative. You all never cease to amaze me.
Greenhouse sounds like a fabulous idea! Congratulations and thank you to all involved in the auction. Wish I could have been there. The support for the Cle Elum 7 is awesome. They deserve it!
Shelly – Tamela’s beautiful necklace was worn by a volunteer all evening who showed it off and really created a buzz. Multiple people bid on it, and the woman who won it was incredibly thrilled. It was certainly one of the highlights of the evening.
Friday’s auction was SOOO much fun!! I’m thrilled to have not one but TWO original ink drawings of Missy and Negra in my home!! Congratulations on a job well done! The food and wine were fabulous, the auctioneer was a gem as were the treat bags on the way out!!! My daughter, Sarah, volunteered that evening selling raffle tickets. She made me cry when we got home when she thanked me for supporting her mission in life – saving chimps. How could I NOT support such a worthy cause! Kuddos to everyone associated with CSNW!!! I can’t wait for next year!!
Thanks for a wonderful opportunity to volunteer to such a worthwhile cause. I loved getting to know all of the volunteers, staff and our beloved chimps. So excited that Foxie loves her giant troll. Looking forward to our next awarenes/
fun, friend, fund-raising event. xo hp
such GREAT news!
congratulations to everyone involved
the upcoming greenhouse is a brilliant idea for the gang
hey Diana ~ ya mentioned about bidding on Negra in the Sun.. were you the lucky one!?!