The LuHi Pod
A podcast for LuHi students, families, and our community.
The LuHi Pod
Season 7, Ep 10: Come to the LuHi Auction!
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
The Annual Auction is right around the corner on November 20th at 6:30 pm and tickets are on sale now! Get yours here: onecau.se/luhiauction?hsCtaAttrib=223929508262
Carolyn Ristow, our Assistant Donor Advisor, is on the Pod this week to share details about the upcoming Auction, how to get involved in supporting LuHi, and why this fundraiser matters for tuition assistance and Missions.
At the top of the show, we recognize the 800-pound gorilla in the room, our Auctioneer, Mr. Zoeller.
Our intro, outro, and segment music were written and recorded by Mr. Matt Zoeller. You can find us on most of the socials under the Lutheran High School handles.
If you have a question you want answered on the Pod, we do Q&A episodes each season! Submit questions anytime to podcast@lhsparker.org.
You can find chapters for each episode and transcripts here: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2228322
Thanks for listening, subscribing, and sharing with your friends!
Hannah.
SPEAKER_06What? What?
SPEAKER_02Uh welcome back to your own podcast.
SPEAKER_06Thank you.
SPEAKER_02It's uh, you know, it's been a been a while.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I've here yeah, I I had a thought. Oh, great. Did you have a thought?
SPEAKER_06Never.
SPEAKER_02I've noticed there's no list in front of you today.
SPEAKER_06Nothing. I got nothing.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Yeah. So um in our most recent episode at the time of this recording, uh, we said we need to talk about the elephant in the room. And I think today we have to talk about the phrase, the elephant in the room. I have an idea for a game.
SPEAKER_06Okay, let's do it.
SPEAKER_02I'm going to say a uh phrase. Okay. What would you call that? A euphemism? Like a idiom. I think idiom. Idiom. Yeah. Yeah. I've got a list of idioms here. And uh and you're gonna tell me what they mean.
SPEAKER_05Oh, goody. Okay.
SPEAKER_02And hopefully you get some wrong, because that'll be fun for everybody. Certain that I will. And then uh and then I also have where they come from. Okay. Like was why do we say so? We're gonna address the elephant in the room. In quotes. Okay. Why have you ever been in a room with an elephant?
SPEAKER_06Just the zoo. Yeah, outdoor.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Right? Yes. Not a room. Yeah. Same, I think. I mean, maybe in like the garage where they wash them. I was Oh yeah.
SPEAKER_06Where you like a volunteer zookeeper at one point?
SPEAKER_02No, you just kind of stand there and watch. I was uh I addressed the giraffe in the room in that case. The indoor.
SPEAKER_06I I can relate to that.
SPEAKER_02Okay. So the elephant in the room is, well, you know this because you used it, but just I didn't use it, you used it. No, but you use Oh really?
SPEAKER_06You said it.
SPEAKER_02Okay, but you know what it means. What's it mean?
SPEAKER_06It means the the big thing that no one is talking about, but everybody's thinking about. Yes.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so why do we call that an elephant?
SPEAKER_06Ooh. Because it's so big you can't ignore it?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, but you can ignore it. Because uh well, you know, it's the point. Okay, so yes, but where like where did that come from? Why don't we say with like um it could have been anything.
SPEAKER_06I ca okay. I'm gonna sound like an idiot, which is fine. I feel like it came from India.
SPEAKER_02Because they have elephants. They have elephants.
SPEAKER_06Or maybe like a maybe like a British person who went to India, saw an elephant, and then came back and thought, like, this is I'm gonna make this happen.
SPEAKER_03The funniest thing, no one seemed to address the elephant that was in the room. They talk, they spoke of curtains, they spoke of tiles, they spoke of buns on hair. No one Okay.
SPEAKER_02Well, it's uh it's not exactly pinpointed as to where it came from, but many believe it came from an 1814 Russian fable called The Inquisitive Man about a museum visitor who visits who notices all kinds of tiny insects but fails to notice a massive elephant.
SPEAKER_06In a museum and not a zoo?
SPEAKER_02What's going on over in Russia? Okay. The exact phrase didn't become popular in America until the 50s when it began appearing in newspapers and literature to describe obvious social and political issues that society chose to look past.
SPEAKER_06Interesting.
SPEAKER_02There you go. Okay. Okay, what else you have? Elephant in the room. All right. You know what I just learned? What? Like this is off script. Okay. This is off my script. The first time I ever had one. Um elephants' hearing is so good they can hear a cloud approaching.
SPEAKER_06That cannot be true.
SPEAKER_02I read it in a book.
SPEAKER_06How could someone possibly prove that without being an elephant themselves?
SPEAKER_02That's what I often think when I hear factoids like that. But I I assume they have their methods, their scientists as part of it. Alright, well. Sponsor the show. Sponsor the show.
SPEAKER_06What else you got?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, okay. Open a can of worms. What's that?
SPEAKER_06Open a can of worms. Um open a can of worms. Something like uh it's bad news. Like if you if you say that, that's a bad idea. Is that right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I think that's pretty good. So here's what I have, and and I don't know that I would have done much better. It is attempting to solve a problem only to inadvertently unleash a complicated mess of new unforced problems.
SPEAKER_06I didn't I didn't I wouldn't have got the first part of that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, me either, attempting to solve a problem. Right. Okay, so this came from mid-20th century United States, and it has to do with fishing. They would buy these tin cans, fishermen, packed tightly with live earthworms, and once the lid was off.
SPEAKER_06How tightly? Because it'd be like, I understand, like that's like opening a can of bees, because once you open that, like they're buzzing in your face. But like worms, yeah, worms aren't going anywhere.
SPEAKER_02I had the same thought. Well, according to my source, which is not really vetted, but the worms would be medium and they would all start going different directions.
SPEAKER_05I don't buy that for a second. Well, I'm sure they can catch all the worms.
SPEAKER_02It's not like they were getting away, but it's just like we have a new problem.
SPEAKER_06In my mind, the saying is like, now it's gotten away from us. Like the all these worms are dirty. Yeah, it's a good parking. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Well, they don't all have to make sense, you know, they don't all check out.
SPEAKER_06Well, and they don't. Okay. What else can we do?
SPEAKER_02I can imagine, but by the way, it's like, hey, we should go fishing. There's some really big uh fish in this lake. Well, dude, just yeah, I don't know if you want to open that can be. Well, how else will I catch the fish? That's literally my bait. Yeah. Is there individual worms being sold somewhere that are uncanned? Okay. Um I only want to go with 800 pound gorilla or skeleton in the closet.
SPEAKER_06Um, both, because I always I often get the gorilla and the elephant one confused. I think those are two similar things.
SPEAKER_02I they're not. Well, you know, it's huge animals.
SPEAKER_06But it means the same thing.
SPEAKER_02No.
SPEAKER_06800 pound gorilla, it doesn't mean the same thing as elephant in the room?
SPEAKER_02No, it doesn't. And and I'll reveal my own something. I didn't even know this one.
SPEAKER_06The gorilla one?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. You've heard this? What does it mean to you? An 800-pound gorilla.
SPEAKER_06It means the same thing as the elephant in the room. You can say you can either say elephant or gorilla. No. Both are big and both. Okay, I have no idea that.
SPEAKER_02Okay. It is a person, company, or force so powerful and dominant that it can act entirely on its own terms and cannot be ignored. So that last bit cannot be ignored. Sounds like the elephant. Okay, here's a joke that I think is a better than the definition. Here's a joke. Uh, where does an 800-pound gorilla sleep? Answer. Anywhere at once. So it's like the joke highlights that when something is that massive and powerful, no one can stop it or argue with it.
SPEAKER_05Did Claude come up with that joke?
SPEAKER_02I don't know. Came up with that joke.
SPEAKER_05Well, where did you find the joke?
SPEAKER_02On the internet. I didn't say write me a joke. It just was like part of the definition. English language and usage something.com. Over time, the punchline evolved into a corporate and political shorthand for dominant market leaders. So like Elon Musk, maybe? Oh, yeah. He's an 800 pound girl. Yeah.
SPEAKER_06You need okay.
SPEAKER_02Not a regular gorilla.
SPEAKER_06You're right.
SPEAKER_02But they go, they go noticed in rooms, not unnoticed.
SPEAKER_06I see. Gorillas are scary.
SPEAKER_02Oh my gosh. Yeah. You go first.
SPEAKER_06No. Do you have a gorilla story? Yes. Oh, I would just have been at the zoo and like seen them like run towards the window.
SPEAKER_02That is that's my story. It's very scary. And one time it hit the window, and it was so loud. Yeah. And I looked around, there were not many people there, but we were all like, is this supposed to happen? Right. Right. And I thought, I don't think so.
SPEAKER_06Is this girl like coming for us? Okay, do you I'm not sure if you're familiar with this movie series. I've only seen one of them. And the I never know the title, but it's something like The Rise of the Dawn of the War, The Planet of the Apes. Do you know that one?
SPEAKER_02Uh I haven't seen it. Oh, okay, never mind. I find it scary. But I know your husband's.
SPEAKER_06Uh I think it's scary because those gorillas are like coming at you. And no thank you. Okay, what else you got?
SPEAKER_02Thank you. I have a s I have a ton of these. We're gonna have to skip a few. Okay, skeleton in the closet or spill the beans.
SPEAKER_06Skeleton in the closet.
SPEAKER_02Okay. What's it mean?
SPEAKER_06Um it means you killed somebody, put them in your closet, and you don't want anybody else to know about it. But like metaphorically.
SPEAKER_02And it never gets addressed. And it never gets addressed when you're having elephants over. Oh my gosh. Yes, I guess. So it's a scandalous or shameful or embarrassing secret from the past that a person or family goes to great lengths to hide.
SPEAKER_06It's what most novels are about, I feel like.
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah. This phrase entered mainstream English literature, literature in the 19th century. Some folklore suggests it relates to early medical doctors hiding illegal anatomical skeletons in their offices. Oh, interesting. It most likely originated as a gothic dramatic metaphor. Oh, interesting. The skeleton is the bones or remnants of a past grim event hiding in a closet. Well, you get it. So maybe this one started as a metaphor and always has been a metaphor.
SPEAKER_06Well, the elephant one has always been a metaphor. Nobody actually had an elephant in their room.
SPEAKER_02Well, in the museum.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yeah, you're right. Okay. That's true. I would like what is this museum? I am curious.
SPEAKER_02Okay, same game, similar different category.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_02What do these phrases all have in common? A wild goose chase, break the ice, green-eyed monster, wear your heart on your sleeve, and one more. In a pickle.
SPEAKER_06Same again.
SPEAKER_02I'm gonna go back.
SPEAKER_06Faster.
SPEAKER_02Okay. Wild goose chase. Break the ice. Green-eyed monster, a personification of extreme jealousy or envy. Wear your heart on your sleeve and in a pickle.
SPEAKER_06Well, that's confusing because some of them are situations and some of them are feelings.
SPEAKER_02You think so fast. You're going the wrong direction, though.
SPEAKER_06Okay.
SPEAKER_02Let me tell you.
SPEAKER_06Yeah.
SPEAKER_02They all came from Shakespeare.
SPEAKER_06Oh. You know who would have known that? Laura. Our friend Laura. Oh yeah. She absolutely would have known that. Really? Oh yeah. She is homeschooling her kids. They do Shakespeare. That's all they do. Yeah. Yeah. She would have known that.
SPEAKER_02Okay, so isn't that interesting though? There's so many, there's actually words that Shakespeare invented, but also these phrases.
SPEAKER_06That is interesting. In a pickle. Did they have pickles back then? Pickles. They must have.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, they must have. To find yourself in a troublesome, messy, or difficult situation.
SPEAKER_06I would have put the pickle phrase at like the 1950s, is when I thought it came about.
SPEAKER_02Well, you're thinking of jarred fermented.
SPEAKER_06I am.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't know how they made them. Probably in Stone Crocs or something. Oh, yeah. I don't know. Um, Shakespeare popularized this in The Tempest in year 1611.
SPEAKER_05Very good.
SPEAKER_02He uh, let's see, one character answers, I have been in such a pickle since I saw you last. At the time, a pickle literally meant a preservation sauce or brine made of vinegar and spices.
SPEAKER_06So maybe not the cucumber thing that was.
SPEAKER_02Being in a pickle meant being boiled, steeped, or trapped in a messy stew. A perfect imagery for being stuck in a bad spot. That makes way more sense than being in an actual pickle.
SPEAKER_06Pickle. Yeah. That does make sense.
SPEAKER_02In the brine.
SPEAKER_06This is helpful. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02I'm stuck in the brine. Like.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_06Maybe we should start.
SPEAKER_02You're in real trouble. I'll pray for you. Girl, I'm a pray for you. Well, I'm in a real brine right now. I'm in a real messy stew brine.
SPEAKER_06And yeah, that would be a situation.
SPEAKER_02Look up the other ones. Everyone you have to call Laura from Atlanta.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that's true. Laura from Atlanta.
SPEAKER_02Her number is. Hey, we're back.
SPEAKER_06Oh my gosh. Okay, well, I'm curious how you're going to tie this into our what we're talking about with our guest today.
SPEAKER_02Oh. Who's our guest today?
SPEAKER_06Uh Carolyn Risteau, who is our auction coordinator. Because our auction is right around the corner. Right around the corner. Right around the corner. Oh, do you have that one? I'm going to check it out.
SPEAKER_02Okay. That's crazy you said that because I happen to just know that one. Didn't even have to look it up, especially not right now. The literal origins are from the early 1800s when cities began adopting dense grid systems with streets and intersecting blocks. People literally used the phrase to guide others. If you were looking for a bakery, it was physically just that's so boring.
SPEAKER_05That is boring. I'm disappointed.
SPEAKER_02There's a metaphorical shift in the early 1900s, though, when it when uh when they s it moves from the spatial to time.
SPEAKER_06So it was like corners became so commonplace. Like the phrase came about because corners were like this new thing, and then it became commonplace, so then they had to make it a metaphor.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I guess if it wasn't around the corner, you would see it right there and you wouldn't even have to ask. That's true. So it's right around the corner. But now it's uh corner is time. The corners of time. Working title. Well, right around the corner is the Lu High auction, and uh it's gonna be great.
SPEAKER_05Everybody get your tickets.
SPEAKER_02It's going to be great. There will be no 800-pound gorillas.
SPEAKER_06Well, I feel like you are. You are the 800-pound gorilla of the auction. Is that a compliment? I'm trying to compliment you.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I know. I wonder if it's accurate. I know you're trying to compliment me. Um, I do get away with a lot.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. So it's fun.
SPEAKER_02Maybe I am the 800-pound gorilla.
SPEAKER_06You are.
SPEAKER_02Interview me real quick to make that make sense for the listener.
SPEAKER_06Just tell us, what is your role at the auction? Oh.
SPEAKER_02I'm the auctioneer.
SPEAKER_06Yes, you are. So you're definitely the gorilla. Yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Uh ask me how close I am to getting my expertise of 10,000 hours of being an auctioneer.
SPEAKER_06Oh, yes. Tell me, how close are you?
SPEAKER_02Um, I'm close to finishing probably my first hour. Because I've done it about 10 times, but it's it's only a few minutes.
SPEAKER_0615 minutes long. Yeah. Okay. That's good. Chipping away.
SPEAKER_02So it's uh it is a metaphorical train wreck. Not a Shakespeare, not a Shakespeare term. Everyone's going to be in a pickle, I'll tell you that. But it's a lot of fun. More like a jacuzzi. It's like a jacuzzi. It's a jacuzzi. It's a jacuzzi. A vinegar.
SPEAKER_06You mean hot tubs? Are they the same thing? I don't know. I think jacuzzi's a brand.
SPEAKER_02Jacuzzi's more Shakespearean.
SPEAKER_06Jacuzzi is the 800-pound gorilla of the hot tub industry.
SPEAKER_02It really is. It really is. If only we had a dictionary. I don't see one. There's probably one.
SPEAKER_03A right around the corner. Oh my goodness.
SPEAKER_06All right. Get your tickets to the auction. And I just want to say that my co-host.
SPEAKER_02Oh, that's all we have. Hannah, the knower of phrases. Oh, somebody sent in a byline for me. That's crazy. Go ahead.
SPEAKER_06No, okay. Who's uh and my co-host, who is an 800-pound gorilla in his everyday life, thank you for listening.
SPEAKER_02That's a compliment.
SPEAKER_06Hey everybody, welcome back to the Blue High Pod. Thanks so much for listening. I'm excited to have our annual auction conversation with our donor advising assistant, Carolyn Risto. And you, Carolyn, should introduce yourself, but you manage the entire auction.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. For the last three, this will be my fourth auction that I've been privileged to work on here at Lutheran High. And it's a lot of uh logistics, a lot of planning, a lot of people who jump in and are a part of it. And yeah, it's a lot of fun, but it's it's really a neat experience to be kind of seeing all the pieces and see those all come together. And um it's definitely rewarding the night of just to see how our community comes together and it's yeah, been a lot of fun to work on.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I want to get into a little bit of your background and history with Lutheran High specifically because you've been around for a while. Um, you are an alumni. I am spoiler alert. So will you just start by introducing yourself?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I'm Carolyn Risto, and like I said, I've been now on staff the past uh three years. This will be my fourth year as the donor advising assistant, and I am also an alumni from the class of 2004. Um, so during my time at Lutheran High, there was a Denver campus as well as a Parker campus, and so I'm a graduate from the Denver campus. But yeah, I had my own meaningful experience at Lutheran High. Um, it impacted my faith. I had wonderful teachers that, you know, invested in me. And so it's really neat now to have kind of come full circle and be back here and a part of the efforts to just continue to impact students and their faith. And yeah, even have some of my former teachers uh on staff as well still. So that's been a lot of fun.
SPEAKER_06This is always a fun question. Who are some of your former teachers?
SPEAKER_04Um, let's see, Mr. Stelling. Okay, uh, Miss Knofse, Mr. Parrot, Mr. Gurky, Mr. Hollenbeck, Mr. Renquest. Oh wow. Might be everybody. Hopefully I didn't miss anybody.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, no, those are some those are some big names. That's that's amazing. I always feel like Mr. and Mrs. Hollenbeck go hand in hand, but a lot of times people say, no, I had Mr. Hollenbeck, but Mrs. Hollenbeck wasn't here yet. Yeah, that was the case for me. So yeah, so interesting. Um okay, I would imagine when people think of donor advising, like event coordinator, doesn't really come to mind as something that that you have to do, but it's uh it's really uh a large part of your job. So it is, yeah.
SPEAKER_04Especially this time of year, you know, probably really over the summer is when kind of a lot of the auction stuff starts rolling for me. Yeah. And then especially as you know, everyone is back on campus for the fall when school starts, then we really kind of get rolling with our whole community looking towards the auction. And um, yeah, it's a lot of pieces, a lot of details. I I like details. I like to organize. So help it's kind of fun.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. I love that. So because you also coordinate some alumni events as well, you kind of how you are the keeper of the alumni records and try to and and do that with the community. Do you have anything to do with class reunions? Um, a little bit.
SPEAKER_04Our class reunions are still really driven by members of those classes. Yeah. But we do really try to partner with them. And especially, I believe it's been eight or nine years now. So I mean, prior to my even time on staff here, that we've been able to host the 50-year reunion for whatever class is celebrating their 50 year. And so we've been able to like provide space on campus for them and, you know, sound system and just really try to make it easy for them to have like just a place to come together and gather. And I actually got to come to most of the reunion that happened for the class of 1976 back in August. And it's just really fun to see the joy that people have reconnecting and you know, talking about teachers who impacted them and memories they have. And so yeah, it's really yeah, as an alumni, but even seeing alumni who have a history much longer than mine, it's really just neat to to know that we can just help keep those connections alive.
SPEAKER_06Yes. And I love that they are joyful and willing and happy to come to a brand new campus because this is not where they graduated from because Parker Lutheran was certainly not open in the 70s. So I love that they have a new home, but they
SPEAKER_04Yeah, yeah. We definitely want to be home for our alumni still, even though the the campus and the building isn't a part of their memories.
SPEAKER_06Yeah. Well, okay, one last question on alumni before we get into auction stuff. So if when students graduate, like even the class of 2025 last year or you know going forward, if students want to be plugged into our alumni community, because it is pretty large at this point, how should they do that?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, you're right. Our alumni community is large. I think at last count we're over 5,000 living alumni. Holy cow. Which is maybe bigger than you'd expect, especially if you were, you know, from one of our smaller graduating classes. It really is neat over the years how that has become a large community. Yeah, and really we have started an email list for our alumni that's just an opt-in. You know, if you want to stay connected, you want to hear about what's happening, you can join that list, and that's gonna be probably our main way to try to get out alumni specific information. So if there is an alumni event coming up, or we'll try to communicate if classes are planning reunions that we know about, try to get those details out. Um as well as we've been able to highlight some alumni stories um that have come up on our blogs. So just being able to hear about uh classmates or maybe not even your classmate, but just you know what how Lutheran High alumni are just continuing to impact you know the world and use the gifts God's given them. It's fun to see that. But yeah, so really the email list is gonna be the main way. We do keep information on our website as well. We've got a page for alumni, but those are probably the main ways we'll try to stay connected. And then of course, just being back in person. I yeah, it's really fun to see too when alumni do come to visit campus. Um, you know, just the smiles on the faces of teachers who get to see them and catch up and know what they're up to. And yeah, so our alumni are always welcome to visit campus too. And yeah, come say hi to the people they know, just see how things have grown and changed since they've been here.
SPEAKER_06So yeah, I love that. That's I think you do a great job fostering that community and 5,000. I was not expecting that number, but I guess that makes sense. We've been open a long time. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Very cool. Okay, so let's get into the auction this year. Can you just give us the broad overview of logistics and then we'll get into how people can get involved?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, absolutely. So our auction is Friday evening, November 20th, 6:30. And it is a really fun night. And we start really just with a kind of social hour. We've got, you know, appetizers, drinks, and just an opportunity for people to connect. One of the things we love about our auction is that it is a community fellowship event, um, is really one of the things that we love and we strive to just keep as part of the auction. And so there's just time for people to um meet new people, connect with those they know. And the silent auction is going on at that time as well and games, and so there's you know, fun things to do, but really starting with that connection piece, and then about eight o'clock we move into a more formal program, and that's when we'll um do our live auction and our donation appeal. And there's also quite a bit of fun with Mr. Gurky and Mr. Zeller. They always they always work really hard to make that um just a lot of fun to be in the room and be together.
SPEAKER_06And um so yeah, if you are a regular podcast listener, you get to hear Zeller every week, and he's just he's one of the funniest guys on staff. I I really enjoy working working with him, and him and Dan's dynamic is kind of one of a kind. Yeah.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I think it's become kind of a uh unique thing about our auction that we love is is just that they we get to see that dynamic every year from them.
SPEAKER_06So yeah, I it's really fun. Um cool. So you mentioned the lion appeal, which is towards the end of the live auction. Can you talk a little bit about the philosophy behind that, why we do that, why it's impactful, that kind of stuff?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, absolutely. We I mean, everything from that night is going towards our fundraising goals and our support raising goal for the school. But the appeal at the end of the night is a really unique opportunity just to ask people to give. We know our community is generous. We know people that are eager to impact students and be a part of the ministry that's happening here with their financial gifts, and so that really gives people an opportunity to say, you know, this is just a direct way you can support what's happening here. And so that goes towards just our operations and tuition assistance and just making sure that the ministry that is happening day in and day out can be supported and funded for what is happening. And 10% of the Lion Appeal the last several years and will again this year has gone to our growing missions program. Yeah. So we're really excited to just take a portion of that generosity and move it directly to what our students are experiencing and the opportunities that they're having through our missions program.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I love that. And we had Mr. Garner, who runs our missions and service on the podcast recently. So I will link that in the show notes. He has done, and not just him, he's got a whole team. Sarah Ness is another huge player in this. They've done a great job growing our missions program from I believe it was one trip four years ago to now. I think they're going on 20-ish. So it's a big thing. And I know his goal and his heart is for any student who wants to go on a mission trip that they have the opportunity to at least go on ones. Our missions programs go all over the place, worldwide. So it they get a little pricey, just even getting them there on a on with the cost of tickets. So um this being able to give 10% from our auction, I think is a huge blessing to that program. Yeah. So I think that's stellar. You mentioned tuition assistance with it, which I think is another large piece of our auction. And our donor advisor, John Rinks, does a really good job of always finding a student who has a good story to tell about their family receives tuition assistance and it allows them to attend Lutheran High. And I think that's so important because we always say in in admissions, we've always said, if tuition is the hurdle, like please let us know. We want to work with you, we want to help you in this. But I don't know if people like it's hard to trust that until you've experienced it. So anybody who comes and donates at our auction, just know that like you are helping us be true to our word and live it out in the sense that we want to be able to say we want to help you. If you if your child desires Christian education, if you desire Christian education for your child, we want this for them. And so coming to the auction, participating, donating at the auction, it is all it is a key piece of making sure that people are able to have their tuition needs met.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, and that is that's a a big value for us, and so it's really exciting to to see the support put behind that.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I love that so much. Um, cool. So, how are some ways that people, besides attending the auction, and you can say that's the main way, but what are some ways people can get involved and help out?
SPEAKER_04Yeah, I I think it's one of the things I love to see is that there are so many different ways that people get involved. Certainly coming and attending is a big one. And our goal is really just to fill the room and just to have people there. So we hope everybody feels that they can come and be a part of it. Whether you feel like you can give a lot, you can't give a lot, you can give a little just the presence and you know, being there that evening to celebrate with us and just the support from even buying your ticket and coming is um is really wonderful. But there are also a variety of other ways that some people who who can't attend or or don't attend find really meaningful ways to still be a part of it. Sponsors are a really big one. And especially kind of now, before we get to the night of, that's a just a huge way that we have support just for getting kind of getting us off the ground with our fundraising goals and really getting us on track for those. And so there's lots of opportunities at different levels. Kind of similarly, it you don't have to be, you know, a top sponsor. There's lots of levels and things you can find your fit for um, you know, your business, your family can sponsor. Um, another really big way is donating items. Oh, sure. We have, I think the past several years have had over like 300 auction items. Oh, wow. And so some of those are not even somebody gives the whole item. Sometimes we've got baskets that are put together. So there is just a huge need for if you can donate gift cards or you have a you know, use of a vacation home that you can donate or merchandise from your business. Um services. There's, you know, people really, especially people who have connections to a business, can really be a huge blessing by providing some of those goods and services that we can use for our auction. Gift cards are another great way. We do a really fun game that I think is another kind of hallmark of our auction. You can spin the wheel and win gift cards and it's a lot of fun. Yeah. But we try to have all those gift cards donated so that the proceeds are really just there to go towards supporting our mission. So yeah, lots of different ways. We also have quite a few volunteers who help ahead of time with different asking businesses for donations, helping prep decor and and things for the actual event the night of. Um, we have people who volunteer the night of. We have some some wonderful parents who've actually now for probably over five years been there to help us with check-in and checkout and items and things the night of. And that is, I mean, that is huge because all of that doesn't come together without the volunteer help the night of. Yeah, there's really a lot of different ways that you can choose to be a part of it. And all of it is meaningful. I mean, none of it is something that, oh, like that's not really important. Like we can do without it. I mean, it's all a need and a great job.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I love that. The behind the scenes efforts that it takes. It's certainly not a one-person show. That's true. No, not at all. Nor do you want it to be. Yeah, that's awesome. Are there any cool donation items that you know of so far? I know it's early that you are excited about that people are gonna get to bid on, either in the live auction or yeah.
SPEAKER_04Um, we have some great Broncos tickets donated that are gonna be in our live auction. Really great, I think like third row seats. And so um that was a lot we had the same seats last year, and it was a lot of fun to auction those off. And we're excited to be able to offer that experience again. And it is a little bit early. We there's still some things coming in, but we always have some really cool vacation properties and yeah, we have some volunteers that work really hard on our auction baskets, and they are working really hard to put together some really nice holiday baskets. Oh, that's because although it doesn't seem like it now, when we get to the auction, Christmas is right around the corner. And so we've really worked hard to just have some some neat things you could be able to pick up as you know, gifts for a family member or a friend or a teacher, or just things that can maybe kind of get a little head start on your Christmas shopping there.
SPEAKER_06So yeah, that's very smart. I also I know, and I'm assuming we're doing this again this year, the two things in the live auction that I always feel like are the most like most popular graduation, seats of graduation, and then a parking place.
SPEAKER_04Oh, how could I forget about those? Yeah. We do, we offer them every year. And yeah, for the graduation seats, it's a set number of seats for your family. And we try to, it's not always front row seats because we have really figured out that the front row seats aren't actually really always the best. Yeah. And so we'll we'll go to the graduation venue and pick out like what we feel is the best seats for you to really experience your students' graduation and just have a great kind of view and just wait to see their special moment. And so that's always a really fun one.
SPEAKER_06And just taking the stress off of the day of like nobody has to be there early to to save the seats. Yep. They are for you.
SPEAKER_04Yeah. Yes, exactly. So they're reserved, kind of keeps hopefully a little less stress for the day. Yeah, and that's been that's been really fun for families to kind of enjoy just having that that moment. And yeah, parking, it's definitely like a front row spot for your student. And as we grow, and especially as the year goes on and more students start driving. Uh parking can be a little a little tricky. And so, yeah, that's really something that it has been really fun for families to say, like, this is just gonna be a cool way to surprise my student with kind of a a really neat thing for the years.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, I would say if your student is anything like me and habitually runs late, get him that parking place because there's nothing more stressful than coming to school, having to drive around the parking lot, not being able to find a spot, and then you're like, well, now I'm really late. Right. Right. There's something nice about just knowing it's there for you. Yes. A hundred percent true. I think know where you're going in the parking lot every day. Yes. That's awesome. Well, I think this has been really helpful to encourage people to come. So, how can people start to get their tickets? Because I believe they are on sale.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, tickets are on sale now. And so there's single tickets you can also buy if you want to fill a table. Oh, and yeah. Just have your group of, we have tables of eight. So if you want to have your group of eight just kind of all at a table together, there's options for that too. But we have a dedicated auction website. So if you go to our Lutheran High page, you can find the link to that auction site. And once you're there, there's, you know, you can sponsor, you can donate, you can buy tickets, different things. But yeah, our tickets are all electronic. So you're not going to get a paper ticket or anything in the mail. You just pay for your tickets and you're on the list and you can show up and we'll know and we'll get you checked in.
SPEAKER_06But yeah, and you'll and if you get your tickets ahead of time, which everybody needs to do that. I believe in the past we've done pre-bidding or something like that.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, that's true. Our silent auction opens on Wednesday. Okay. So you've got kind of like a two-day head start to get bidding on your favorite items, or even just to buy it right out. Yeah, you can buy right out sometimes. Um, our auction software even lets you build a watch list so you can kind of keep track of like the things you want to keep an eye on, your favorites, and just make sure that then it'll kind of send you updates when those get bid on or you get outbid and things like that. But yeah, so once you've bought your ticket, then when we send out a text of hey, the auction's open, you're gonna get that because you have your ticket. And so yeah, so it's a lot of fun. It's a great way to yeah, get involved early and yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_06So I will link um I will link that directly in the show notes as well so people can just, you know, get straight to the auction website from there.
SPEAKER_04I would just uh encourage people to come, especially if you haven't been before. I think when you have the opportunity to come, there like I said, there's a really just neat community aspect to being there. A part I know our executive director, Dan Gherky, has said it's you know one of the our best nights of the year that we just love getting to be together, getting to celebrate, getting to talk about what God is doing through Lutheran High and in the lives of our students. And we try to make it really a a fun night that there's lots of laughter, lots of just fun ways to support. Yeah. And so especially for those of you who maybe haven't come before, I'd really encourage you to check it out this year and to come. And it is, especially if you are a current parent listening, please know that it's open to others. So if you've got a you know, a grandparent or a neighbor you want to invite or oh yeah somebody, I mean, we just love having all kinds of people come. Our some of our alumni come back, even parents of alumni whose kids have graduated now many years ago. I've seen grandparents of alumni at the event. Yeah. Yeah. Uh former faculty and staff. I mean, just all kinds of different people who love Lutheran High come and are there. So yeah, just know that you're welcome. We would love to have you and that you are a part of that community. And so we just want you to be a part of that evening too.
SPEAKER_06Yeah, that's amazing. And it it's I feel like it's a very Lutheran High event in the fact that there's good fellowship, good good food. It's fun, it's not like super fancy. You don't have to come in your best evening wear. Um, people dress up a little bit, but it's just a casual, good time that we just want to be together and ultimately, like you said, glorify the Lord and just give thanks for what he is doing here. Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. Well, Carolyn, thank you so much for your time today. It's always fun to talk to you.
SPEAKER_04Yeah, no, thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.
SPEAKER_01So I get this one for good.