THE BEAR FACTS
March 25, 2023


Good morning! I’m Violet Bode!

I’m Ella Schaaf!

And I’m Avery Lichter! Thanks for tuning into the “Bear Facts”, the weekly radio show from Bishop Garrigan High School.

Tonight 350 guests will be at Bishop Garrigan for Gala 2023. This is the thirty-fourth Gala, and in the past three decades the event has grown to become by far the largest fundraiser for our school. Over the years Gala has brought in nearly eight million dollars. Some of that goes to an endowment that should help sustain the school well into the future. Other money supports special needs and the basic day-to-day expenses.

Last year’s Gala, the first in-person event since COVID, set a new record of $413,000. Lots of people have been working hard all year to make sure Gala 2023 is another big success. The Garrigan development office is ultimately responsible for organizing the event, but a committee of volunteers helps plan the meal, games, and decorations. Both parents and students help to set everything up, and on the big night there are dozens of volunteers working to make sure things go smoothly.

Many people attend Gala to enjoy the upscale catered dinner. This year Gala meal will begin with four different hors d'oeuvres. bacon-wrapped mustard shrimp, chorizo stuffed mushrooms, pesto and sun-dried tomato flatbread, and bacon and brie in phyllo dough. The main dinner starts with cream of potato soup with leek and bacon and a citrus mint tender green tossed salad.

There’s a choice of two different entrées this year. Guests can choose from tenderloin of beef au poivre, breast of chicken with a mélange of cheeses, stuffed with ham and asparagus, with a mushroom sherry sauce. Both entrées come with potatoes dauphinoise and glazed tri-color carrots. Then for dessert everyone will enjoy an elegantly presented passion fruit slice.

The focus of the evening is always the live auction, which this year features more than sixty different items. Some are practical things like loads of gravel, water softener, tree service, crop spraying, and tiling for fields. There’s also things like a spa package, patio furniture, a fire pit, diamond earrings, and power tools. Many guests also enjoy bidding on group packages—like themed parties or trips to sports events.

Besides the live auction, there’s a wide range of raffles where Gala-goers can win a car, a four-wheeler, new kitchen or furniture, a luxury vacation, or a rifle—plus dozens of smaller prizes. There’s also hundreds of silent auction items for people to bid on. One of the most popular features in recent years is “Pick Your Passion”, where Gala guests help to fund things to help all the different classrooms at Garrigan and Seton with special things that aren’t in the regular budget.

The schedule for Gala starts well before the actual event. There will be a mass for all the students and adults working at Gala starting at 4pm. Then at 5:30 the doors open, and guests will browse and enjoy their snacks. At 7pm Fr. Matthew will give an invocation, and Garrigan President Lynn Miller will announce some special awards. Then at 7:30 dinner will be served, and the live auction begins. The evening should wrap up between 9:30 and 10pm.

This coming Tuesday seven Garrigan students will be traveling to the Des Moines area to visit the Iowa Police Academy. Students making the trip are seniors Emma Bacha and Connor Davis, sophomores Brooke Ludwig and Thadd Kollasch, and freshmen Kayden Graves, Kollyn Wiemers, and Carter McGregor. They’ll find out what new police recruits go through and also learn about forensic science.

Also next Tuesday, Garrigan’s Viva Voce jazz choir will be competing at the state jazz championships in Spirit Lake. Viva Voce includes bass singers Drew Casey, Sam Plathe, Drew Muller, and Amaury Thomas; baritone Logan Nemmers; and tenors Benjy Trainer, Nate Bronk, Brendan Plathe, and Tate Foertsch. The altos in jazz choir are Maggie Vaske, Audi Crooks, Violet Bode, and Lauren Swift. Madelyn Bronk sings mezzo-soprano, and the soprano singers are Eva Snyder, Savannah Waechter, Ava Hough, and Isabella Waechter. Good luck at state, Viva Voce!

Our Senior Spotlight this week shines on Marissa Rahe. Here to tell you about her is Brendan Plathe.

Marissa Rahe is part of the Bishop Garrigan Honor Society, and she was also honored at the academic banquet earlier this month. Marissa is a Bancroft native who enjoys helping out in the classrooms at Seton as part of the campus ministries group. Next year she plans to attend DMACC, and she’d like to transfer to UNI to major in social work. We wish Marissa all the best in college.

Thanks, Brendan. On our Golden Bear calendar, the big event today is Gala 2023. Mass for workers will be at 4pm, and the doors open at 5:30.

There’s mass next Tuesday, and the police academy trip is that day. Tuesday is also when Viva Voce will compete at the state jazz championships.

The senior retreat will be next Wednesday and Thursday. It was re-scheduled to those dates due to conflicts last week. There will be food packaging for Haiti next Friday and Saturday, and Saturday there’s also a home trapshooting competition.

That’s the “Bear Facts” for Gala week. Thanks for joining us, and be sure to catch the show next week for more news from Bishop Garrigan High School.