By Elaine Rassel
Was there going to be a Royal Scholarship Dinner this year? Previous years had the dinner in January but that was then. Our nation has been through a pandemic_COVID-19 since March of 2020. We couldn’t have it in January but put it back into March, hoping vaccinations would be available and people would feel more like getting out and about.
The Royal Scholarship Dinner was held Saturday, March 20! Still taking precautions, it was held in the MMC gym where there was more room for spacing out. This was the twelfth year that this dinner, formally called MMC Foundation Dinner, was held. This was the fifth year that Remsen-Union School participated in the dinner now called Royal Scholarship Dinner. The proceeds from this dinner and auction go toward educational grants for teachers and scholarships for the seniors of MMCRU who are graduating.
Many changes had to be made for the dinner to be held. We arrived at 5:30 p.m. and went to the gym where many tables, covered with red checked table cloths, were waiting for people to find a place to sit. Social distancing and masks were required. Some tables only had a couple or three people sitting (some had family groups) which was what it was supposed to be.
We had a half hour to check out the articles that were offered for silent auction or live auction. All of these articles were placed around the gym for easy looking. It took me the entire half hour to see all that was being offered! Then is was 6 p.m. and time for the meal. In the past, a meal was prepared in the Commons Area and served to those sitting by the round tables. It couldn’t be like this this year! The only conversation you had was with the person sharing the table with you (or unless your family was there).
This year, the Cherokee County Cattlemen donated the meat and grilled hamburgers for us (outside). The seniors delivered our meal in a Styrofoam take-out container that also had a macaroni salad and a scotch-a-roo. For those with peanut allergies, there was a rice crispy bar available. We had a choice of any kind of potato chips. Lemonade and water was offered to drink.
The 17 seniors who brought the meal to us were later introduced and told us their future plans after graduation. There was no speaker but some of the Speech Class students presented their speech presentations after the dinner and just before the auction began.
Some of the silent auction items included an afghan, a dental (well filled!) basket, a personalized cake pan, a hand-blown glass globe, pans with O’Henry bars, several gift baskets, two tickets to Brown’s Theater, Mary Kay baskets, Gift cards from several local businesses, swimming passes from both Remsen and Marcus pools, 4 tickets to Kingspoint, a free consultation (a suggestion of consultation and preparation of a will) from a lawyer, a homemade food basket containing hot mustard, deer/beef sticks, pickled asparagus, pickled walleye, candied coconut, and pickled green beans, Royal signs, a 2019 Year Book, three pounds of caramels, an embroidered “pig” pillow, book bundle, and many more!
The live auction had many home-made wood items from Rich Van Dam elevator bucket planter, wooden tray, coffee table, etc. Mary Van Dam contributed lemon bread, banana bread, jams, (2) pies. There were several dozen decorated cupcakes, a lap quilt, a Royal quilt made by Shirley Schroeder, a wooden flag that opened up_the “stars” area opened up to shelves, and the flag itself opened up along one of the middle stripes to shelves behind, several Royal signs, a Welcome sign with “Boo” on the backside, a cabinet to be finished to the buyer’s discretion (made by the Industrial Arts class), and several coolers filled with many goodies. Elaine Leavitt had 3 dozen of rolls (went for over $200 a dozen!), several gift baskets (some metal ones) several pillows, and a basketball signed by the Royal basketball girls that went to State.
Jim Klein was the Auctioneer for the Live items. He always makes the auction a fun part of the night! More than one person was finally convinced that what was being auctioned off would be just the right thing for that person_no matter what the price! There were many, “you wouldn’t want that guy to outbid you, would you!?”
Congratulations to the following who won the raffle: $50 went to Barry Thompson, Jen Treinen was the winner of $100, the $150 ticket winner was Emma Reuter, and Jim Leavitt won the $500 ticket.
This past year and some of this present year has been difficult for schools as well as for all of us. The Royal Scholarship Dinner was not the usual but it never hurts to have a change it was a successful change!
Thanks go to the Cattlemen for their contribution, Jim Klein for being the auctioneer, to all who came and to those who supported the students and staff of MMCRU High School with their generous gifts!