Bidders opened their wallets and gave almost $100,000 to help fund education at the Oregon Alumni Association’s annual Tailgate Auction on Aug. 31.
The event, which was sponsored by the Alumni Association and the Springfield Chamber of Commerce, finished its 10th year having raised a record amount of money for University scholarships.
A sea of attendees in green and yellow filled the Eugene Hilton as alumni and members of the Eugene community socialized, enjoyed the event’s hosted bar and browsed the selection of auction packages, many of which were provided by local businesses and organizations.
Jeff Nudelman is the past president of both the Portland chapter of the Alumni Association and the national chapter and is the General Counsel for Parr Lumber, a Portland-based company that has recently opened an office in Eugene and donated several items to the silent auction. He said the Tailgate Auction is important because it helps people keep the connections they made at the University and also because it allows alumni to “pay it forward.”
Nudelman said that giving money to the auction is important because the scholarships that come out of it “allow other individuals to have the opportunities that we had here.”
Bria Light, a Springfield High School graduate who will be attending the University in the fall, echoed that sentiment. Light is the recipient of a $1,000 Alumni Association scholarship. She spoke at the event about the potential that a college education can provide.
Light said that people who are willing to donate their money to scholarships open doors for students in low-income areas who might not be able to attend college without help. Light said a very small percentage of Springfield High School students attend a four-year college and that many more would go if they could afford it.
“The number one deterrent to going to college is the financial burden,” she said. “(Scholarships) are critical to getting students from low socio-economic areas such as Springfield to go to college.”
Light, who has not yet declared a major but is thinking of going into medicine, said the scholarship will help ease her workload.
“It’s great to not have to worry about working as much. I can focus more on my studies and really apply myself,” she said.
Ken Grimsley, a consultant who lives in Eugene, said he regularly attends auctions for various non-profit organizations and comes to the Tailgate Auction because he believes it is important to support higher education. Grimsley is actually a University of Southern California alumnus, but attends the tailgate auction every year because his teenage daughter is a big Ducks fan. He said he roots for the Ducks, too – as long as they’re not playing his alma mater.
The evening began with a silent auction. Attendees packed the aisles between tables bidding on an eclectic group of items. The silent auction featured everything from a singing telegram performed by a local Marilyn Monroe impersonator to
a working traffic signal, fire hydrants painted green and yellow, and “mystery packages” from foreign nations.
After they finished bidding on the silent auction, attendees took a break to eat dinner and socialize with friends.
In between courses, several special guests spoke.
As football coach Mike Bellotti walked to the stage, the Green Garter band played the Oregon fight song and the cheerleaders rallied the audience to stand up and clap along. Bellotti spoke of the early challenges in practice this season but said he was very excited for the weekend’s opening game against Stanford. He said last year’s season was “magical,” and that he hopes the team camaraderie will continue this year.
Jerry Allen, the “voice of the ducks,” emceed the event, introducing a lineup of guest speakers, which also included University President Dave Frohnmayer, who commended the record-breaking attendance at the event.
“This evening stands for opportunity,” he said. “(It is a chance) for young people to make a difference in the world.”
Both during and after dinner, auctioneer Sid Vorhees took bids on 50 different auction packages, many of which went for thousands of dollars. The packages
included several dinners with various University figures, tickets to sporting events, trips and cruises. A trip to the Sundance Film Festival went for $1700 and a package of tickets to the 2008 Olympic trials went for $1100. In his rapid-fire, musical delivery, Vorhees prodded bidders to open their wallets as he went over the benefits of each package. A few packages ended in such tight bidding wars that Vorhees offered to sell two of the same package to more than one bidder.
Angelo Seminary, the co-chair of the volunteer committee that organizes the event every year, said the auction had record attendance this year, something he attributed both to the community’s support of higher education and the decision to move the event. The auction is normally held during Civil War weekend, but this year, due to scheduling conflicts, the Alumni Association decided to use the event as a kickoff for the football season, which began Sept. 2.
“The number one thing I’m most pleased with is the way the community has rallied around this like always,” Seminary said. “Coming to this weekend was smart. People who understand this event found a way to be here.”
The Tailgate Auction raises money in several ways. The silent and live auctions, along with a raffle of a 42-inch plasma TV from Oldfield’s Appliance and a $2000 Jerry’s gift certificate, are the big fundraisers, but the auction also raises a lot of money through the attendance alone. Individuals paid $75 a piece to attend and the organizers also sell corporate tables.
Attendance this year was a complete sell-out and the $98,994 raised for scholarships was a record, said Alumni Association Deputy Director Jennifer Casey. Casey said that in celebration of the 10th year of the auction, the Alumni Association is donating an extra $20,000 to scholarships for University students.