auction

Mar Vista School Auction This Saturday!

March 1, 2016 by Seb Frey

Spring is in the air, and it’s fundraising time! Mark your calendars everyone – the Mar Vista School Auction is this Saturday, March 5th, from 2:00 PM until 6:00 PM. The event will be held at Cantine Wine Pub in Aptos Village. Last year’s auction was also held at Cantine, which is a wonderful place to gather with friends and share a cup or two of the good stuff. The theme this year is Black and White – formal or informal, no ties or heels required. Tickets are $35 at the door, and worth every penny as it includes some delicious food and wine – and goes to support the Mar Vista Parent + School Club.

And don’t just think this fun community event is just for families with kids at Mar Vista Elementary – it’s for everyone! Check it out: this year’s auction grand prize is a 3-day stay at an awesome North Shore Tahoe Home situated on Old Brockway Golf Course, valued at $1300! This home has an AMAZING rating on AirBNB! The home features 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms, 6-person hot tub, sleeps 9, and is 10 minutes from Northstar, 8 minutes to casinos, and 5 minutes to North Tahoe Beach.

So come on out to Cantine Wine Pub this Saturday – lots of your friends and neighbors will be there, and it’s for sure that a good time will be had by all.

Mar Vista Elementary School 2015 Auction

March 6, 2015 by Seb Frey

Mar Vista Fundraiser Auction — Support Mar Vista Elementary School!

The Mar Vista Elementary School 2015 Auction needs your support! This is their biggest fundraiser of the year. This fundraiser directly benefits our kids by enhancing technology, dance, and art funds – things that the school district simply does not pay for but which greatly enhance a child’s education, and therefore our community.

This year’s auction has two components, both on-line and off-line. The Online Auction will be held March 13-23, and you can register at www.biddingforgood.com – just click the “Bidder” link on that page to sign up and get ready to bid.

This year there are some exciting new donors and many fun adventures, as well as very practical useful items. When the auction goes “live” you can invite family and friends to check it out as well. There are many interesting and exciting items and tickets for our community to bid on.

Please check out the Event created on Facebook, and take a moment to invite all your Facebook friends – even those who don’t live in our area – to register for the on-line auction, and attend the live event if they’re local. Let’s really show some love to one of California’s Distinguished Schools, and help it to continue to earn this coveted distinction.

The live, silent auction component will be held on Saturday, March 21 from 2:00 to 5:30 PM at the fabulous Cantine Wine Pub in Aptos Village Plaza. The live auction is the only place to bid on class projects and prize baskets – and a few choice adventures will be up for bid as well.

Come out and meet other members of our community, including fellow Mar Vista parents, and enjoy a light dinner fare and delicious wine. Tickets are $20 per person, and are sold in the Mar Vista Elementary School office, or online at EventBrite. But hurry – ticket prices will go up on March 14th and will be $25 at the door.

Mar Vista Elementary School 2015 Auction Item Donors

O’Neill Yacht Charters
Otterbox
S.F. 49ers
San Jose Sharks
Chardonnay II
Costanoa
Disneyland
Freedom Bakery
Gilroy Gardens
Hearst Castle
Kayak Connection
Lake Tahoe Cruise
Monterey Bay Aquarium
……and more

Local Restaurants are:
Betty’s Burgers
Cafe Rio
Cruz Cafe
Bittersweet Bistro
Britain Arms
Shadowbrook/Crow’s Nest
Cafe Sparrow
Chill Out Cafe
Discretion Brewing
Kianti’s
Pizza My Heart
….and more

In addition, there are 7 vineyard tasting & tours, a couple of dozen museums from around California. There are over 300 items on the website so far, and growing each day! So register today and get ready to bid!

Hot New Kickstarter Project in Town

February 28, 2015 by Seb Frey

The Cardboard Guys:
Jordan Kepler, Justin Farr and Jake Disraeli

There’s a hot new Kickstarter project in town – so hot, in fact, it was named a Kickstarter Staff Pick within hours of launching. It’s an idea whose time has come: sturdy, inexpensive furniture made from 50% post-consumer recycled cardboard – designed for kids.

The project is the brain child of Aptos native Jordan Kepler, who recently graduated Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. Kepler, along with fellow Cal Poly alumni Justin Farr and Jake Disraeli, came up with the idea as part of their senior project. They noticed that university students often toss out their furniture when they move after the school year ends. In fact, 8.5 million tons of furniture and furnishings are thrown away every year in the United States. That’s a lot of trash.

It’s no secret that a lot of today’s furniture is cheap stuff, made from particle board and not designed to last for many years. Kepler and his friends realized that children’s furniture in particular has a short life span, as kids outgrow their furniture within a few years. From this idea, The Cardboard Guys was born. While the furniture is designed to be recycled, it is also designed to be sturdy and strong: a chair they’ve designed is rated to hold 500 pounds of weight.

This Cardboard Desk and Chair Set will retail for around $100

Within 3 days of launching on Kickstarter.com, the project had already reached about 50% of its goal of $25,000, which must be raised by March 27th. Once the project reaches its goal, The Cardboard Guys will use the money to buy a cardboard die cutting machine and start cranking out their first product, a cardboard desk and matching chair. Each desk+chair set comes with art supplies in the packaging, and kids are encouraged to decorate their furniture to suit their style and taste. It is expected that the desk+chair set will retail for around $100.

Assuming that the $25K Kickstarter goal is met, Kepler and The Cardboard Guys will be donating pieces to the Rio del Mar Elementary School auction and also the Mar Vista Elementary School auction.

Check out the cool teaser video (below) they put together – and then head over to the Kickstarter campaign and make a donation. There’s a much longer and more detailed video there you can check out too.

Let’s help Jordan and his friends make a dent in the Universe.
See also:

Rawhide Baseball Group Pasta Feed and Silent Auction

November 11, 2014 by Seb Frey

The Rawhide Baseball Group is having a pasta feed and silent auction at the Resurrection Catholic Community Church on December 6th. The festivities start at 6 PM, and feature the local band Soulwise, a local reggae/funk rock band from Santa Cruz. Two of the Rawhide Baseball Group coaches are in the band: Adrian deMar and Kevin Eichorn.

Tickets are $25 each for adults, and $10 each for kids, and you have your choice of vegan or meat sauce. They’ll be having a silent auction as well, and proceeds go to support the youth of Santa Cruz county. Rawhide Baseball Group is an organization that puts together a string of camps, clinics and teams for kids ages 8-14 run by current and former MLB players from the area.

To learn more and get tickets, visit http://rawhidebaseballgroup.com/pasta/