By GALEN WELLNICKI
Usually when a large number of Lady Eagle basketball supporters are gathered in Eagle Gym they spend a few hours cheering the Georgetown girls’ basketball teams to victory. But on Saturday night, the majority of a large gathering of Lady Eagle basketball supporters, were cheering—most silently—that McCoy Elementary student Campbell Horton would pull their ticket from the hopper at the Second Annual Lady Eagle Bingo Ball fundraiser.
Forty winning numbers were drawn for prizes that included such items as a gas grill, body rejuvenation aids, jewelry, golf and physical fitness outings, gift cards and a grand prize of $500 dollars. There even were some repeat winners.With a modified, but popular, winner selection process other than traditional bingo, winning tickets were drawn, numbers announced, certified and then exact prizes were assigned with the drop of bingo balls with Milton VanDusen and Curtis Parker supervising and enhancing the operation.
The evening also featured a gourmet meal and fellowship and the lively and informative banter of master of ceremonies Katie Youngblood. “Thank you for your amazing support at the Bingo Ball,” said Lady Eagle basketball coach Rhonda Farney for the event’s enthusiastic reception. Farney, who will be busy this week leading the Lady Eagles to a pair of games that can clinch an outright District 19-5A championship, also had a lengthy list of thank yous for the key people in the event’s success.
“Christy Fischer and Katie Youngblood (the president of the Lady Eagle Basketball Boosters) were amazing leaders. They had to make tough decisions and did so with the results being a fun night of fellowship that made the girls the revenue needed to sustain our program.
“Milton VanDusen also did an outstanding job with the drawing for prizes. Also, I want you to know that Curtis Parker stepped up and upgraded our big screen and audio/visual and set the curtains on Friday to make the night have a more intimate feel. Jim and Karen Chapman provided us with 25 proxies. We had several winners amongst our alumni and alumni parents.
“Heather Smith took care of the food for the girls and led the way in lobbying for our bingo license the past several days. Linda Silva has dealt with the Texas Lottery Commission since November and has receipted all revenue and expenses associated with the event.
“Lila Weirich kept a database on all who purchased tickets. Trudy Brandenburg was to be our bingo caller and was instrumental in the decision-making that led to the success we experienced. Wendy Jones, along with former player mom Sharlyn Gerlinger, and Sidney Brewer led the way with the beautiful decorations. Others who helped were Lynn Elliott, Robyn Knight, Robin Herman, Shirley Ellis, Kathleen Bruning, Lisa Horton, Tera Hampton, Dena Mouton, Coco Perry, Jessica Robledo, Jacqueline Sutton, and Tina Heine. We could not have done it without you!
Melissa Bradshaw provided half of the $10 Starbucks cards that we gave to our proxies as well as donating all the coffee for our meal. Speaking of the meal, Karen Kovach is the food and nutrition director for GISD and the mom of a former Lady Eagle great Erica Kovach. She planned and executed—along with chef Andrew Giles—the wonderful dinner. Chef Giles was also responsible for the beautiful eagle ice sculpture. Others who helped were from the Sodexo family: Chef Lane Jenks from Huntsville ISD, Chef Edward Kotar from Taylor ISD, Chef Garrett Johnson from Del Valle ISD, Operations Manager Julie Blaylock from Del Valle ISD, GM Nancy Holland from Hutto ISD and Operations Manager Anna Martin from Hutto ISD.
“Diane Harrison supported our efforts financially as well as by tarping the floors and setting the tables and chairs. The GISD maintenance and custodial staffs assisted. This was a huge undertaking and was executed flawlessly. Lynne Kincaid, the grandmother of Chloe Sutton, was responsible for soliciting and gathering over 50 of the prizes. She made the event a success as well!
“I also want to thank Tosha Doherty, our seventh grade basketball coach at Forbes, who worked during the week and came up early Saturday morning to help with seating chart and labels! “The crowning touch was the entertainment, by GHS alums Aubrey Walling and Matt Graves, the Vinyl Doves. They were perfect for the night!”
The Lady Eagles themselves from all levels—varsity, junior varsity and freshman—acted as servers and hostesses. They added countless smiles and warmth to an evening where all attendees exited as winners.
“Please thank all of the above for making our Second Annual Bingo Ball a tremendous success,” Farney concluded.
