Pete's Benefit Dinner

Saturday we went to a benefit dinner for my cousin Pete.  He was diagnosed with Waldenstrom’s Macroglobulinemia, a type of lymphoma.  The benefit was at Fieldstone Golf Course and was a huge success by anyone's account.

We arrived at four for the dinner, but did not participate in the golf portion since most of us don't golf.  They had closed the course for the day to hold this event, so everyone there was there just for Pete!  After arriving we checked out what was going on in the room.  First there was the silent auction, which had a bunch of awesome things donated.  A lot of autographed sports memorabilia, ski equipment, golf equipment, Pine Knob season ski passes, etc.  They also had a raffle going on.  I've never seen a raffle run they way they did it, but it was awesome.  They had tons of items set up on tables that were being raffled off and each item had a tub in front of it.  After you purchased your tickets, you could place them in which ever tubs you wanted.  Each items was raffled off from the tickets in it's corresponding tub.  

We ended up buying a few tickets and Ryan and I tried to win a) a Nike golf bag, b) a signed Mickey Redmond puck, and c) a bunch of autographed hockey memorabilia (Wings & Leafs).  We decided to try and stack the odds in our favor, so we put a bunch of tickets in each tub...instead of spreading the wealth among a bunch of items.

As a family, we also bid on a TON of items in the silent auction.  It cracked me up because Ashley was bidding against a 9 year old for a signed Victor Martinez bat and ball.  They just kept going back and forth and at some point the kid wrong "Just Stop!" in the margin.  Ashley is ruthless and ended up winning the item.  LOL.

Dinner was delicious.  It was a buffet and I had salad, pasta, steamed veggies and mashed potatoes.  I have it say it was one of the best buffet meals I've ever had.  After dinner they started rolling with the prizes.  Up first were the winners of the golf.  One 4-some managed a 56 on a par 72 course and they won.  The plaques they got were really awesome.  Afterward, the did a few of the raffle items (none of which we put on bets on) and then it was time for some speeches from the family and organizers of the event.

Afterward, they raffled off a giant wheelbarrow full of booze.  The winner of the wheelbarrow decided that he wanted it auctioned off and the proceeds to go to my cousin's family.  Well, who do you think won the boozebarrow?  Yeah, that would have been my dad.  After he won it, I immediately turned to Ashley and said, "How the heck are we going to get that home?!?!"  Here it is in all it's glory:

Ashley and Eddie claimed the booze and my parents gave the wheelbarrow to Ryan and I because they had just gotten a new one.  Woooo for a new wheelbarrow!

In the raffle portion, Ashley and I were both successful.  Ryan and I won the Mickey Redmond signed puck.  Ryan was SUPER excited:

Ashley won a Guinness jersey and Guinness globe.  Eddie was super excited about the globe and kept raising it up like it was his own Super Bowl trophy.

We were all really successful in the Silent Auction as well.  Ryan and I won the Matt Stafford & Calvin Johnson signed football, the Mickey Redmond signed bowling ball and puck, as well as the Jim Leyland signed baseball.  Since we had already won a puck in the raffle, we gave the 2nd one to Ashley and Eddie.

Ashley and Eddie won the Victor Martinez signed bat and ball as well as a bunch of golf stuff.  Eddie really wanted the Miguel Cabrera signed ball and picture but at the end of the Silent Auction Ashley and some guy were in a bidding war, and apparently he ended up winning.  

The benefit was fantastic and a giant success.  Over $36,000 was raised for Pete's family.  It really warmed my heart to see how many people came out to support him and his family.  It was truly an amazing day.