Much hilarity ensued...

I am sure everyone is just dying to hear how the big fundraiser went! Well, it was a rockin' success. We raised $1000 in 3 hours mainly by stuffing cash into any one dozens of gloriously decorated boots! Way to go Vashon! You really know how to party!

As you can see from this picture, I was in rare form and certainly willing and quite able to make a fool out of myself for a good cause.

Ah...good old small town living.

So, did I sing? As the evening stretched out it was becoming more and more obvious that there was no way I was going to get out of doing a tune.

Hence, "Tainted Love" and the accolades are still rolling in!

Trend spotting: high fashion rubber art boots

In true Vashon style, they came out of their houses, left their gardens, stumbled to town and showed up at our "Bling the Boots" art party.

Some people jumped right in. Others were sort of confused and needed some urging. But, boy! Did they deliver!

We tried to keep the hot glue gun burns to a minimum as it was an all ages event.

We took over the big excellent craft table at Books by the Way. Jenni was kind enough to host the event and get us set up.

I had been gathering bling for weeks.

Many trips to grannies for wacky little crafty do-dads to glue onto boots; lace, electrical tape, fringe, beads, buttons.

Mission accomplished.

I gathered bags of bugs and gems and frogs and flowers all just looking for a new home on the art boots islanders created for the much anticipated Rubber Boot Fashion Show April 9th at The Red Bicycle, 8:00 - 11:00.

Ok, people! There is still plenty of time to create your own masterpiece and support BARC all in one fell swoop!

We had so much fun, plus there were a few people who couldn't make it so we're going to do another one, April 6th, 12-2 at Books by the Way.

This has been such a fun and motivating event to work on. The buzz is happening and people are jumping on the bandwagon!

How about you!?

Vashon Idol & Rubber Boot Fashion Show - April 9th

When I moved to Vashon 10 years ago, I noticed something right away:

1.) Us islanders sure have a lot in common; mainly a high tolerance for pretty much anything - as long as we can live here. And, 2.) We are all a bunch of notorious hams and talented show offs!

Therefore, I am sure you will not want to miss this much-anticipated all ages event: The Vashon Idol Talent Contest & Rubber Boot Fashion Show at The Red Bicycle on April 9th, 8:00 – 11:00 pm.

Join us for a fun and entertaining evening! Show off your high-fashion wellies on the “cat walk” plus see all the one-of-a-kind art boots created by island artists. Three discerning judges will pick the winning art boots with audience participation. The winning pair will be auctioned off to support BARC which is making its next big push on the next phase of the master plan.

All proceeds will go toward a $5,000 challenge grant for BARC (Burton Athletic Recreation Center) secured by freelance grant writer, Allison Shirk who has been working tirelessly for the Vashon Parks District with excellent results.

We are also thrilled to announce a mystery “Fashion-ista” to hostess the evening! Who is she? Nobody knows! You will just have to show up to find out!

How about you songbirds! Who will get the title of – Vashon Idol for the evening? A professional karaoke machine with 4,000 songs assures that all will be able to belt it out with the best of them.

Knowing Vashon, the competition may be fierce but don’t let that stop you! Come on out and ham it up with the best (or worst) our island has to offer! Or just be part of the highly amused and entertained audience! Either way, this is the party for you!

Kids will need to scram by 11:00 but adults older than 21 will be allowed to continue until the Red Bicycle sends them packing.

So warm up those pipes and dust off these boots and mark your calendar for this fun and frolicsome community event!

To enter either contest or for more info contact Shelley at 206-463-3256 or freshground@comcast.net

Naked dad calendar: update

Well, the naked dad calendar supporting our local school district is rocking!

I went to the release party on Thursday evening at Cafe Luna, Vashon Island, WA.

Most of the dad were there, slightly bewildered by all the attention and quickly getting writer's cramp from all the autographs. And, may I say, what a nice bunch of folks. Special kudos to all the excellent wives/moms for organizing and promoting this whole thing.

Check out this article from the Tacoma News Tribune which is great exposure but seems to miss the whole point at how extreme it is to have to raise money like this. Titter, titter aside - be it bake sale, car wash or naked dad calendar; we are NOT appropriately funding public education.

I have gotten so much great feed back about this project! And, I just know this could be an annual model. Any other dads out there ready to go au natural for schools next year! Hurray!

So, how are they doing? They printed 1,000 calendars, uped it from 500. At $20 a piece, that could be $20,000 for the school district.

Word has it that Amazon.com sales are good. Apparently it is the #4 calendar sales only behind the Twilight calendar AKA the sexy vampire.

Anyway, it is all good fun, despite one school board member worry. I guess, it takes something like this to get the conversation going. Mission accomplished!

Oh, and how many did I get? 5, for x-mas gifts for some lucky loved ones.

Middle aged dads pose nude for calendar to raise money for local schools

I love this! Remember when I was trying to recently rattle this community about creative school district fund raising ideas?

I think this counts as one!

$20 a pop? I am down for one. Anyone else? Place your orders!

From the Vashon Beachcomber:

When Islander Scott Benner had his portrait taken last month, he didn’t spend much time deciding what to wear. After all, his outfit consisted of a red bow tie, a tweed hat and nothing more.

He’s one of 12 Island dads and professionals who shed their suits and posed nude for an Island cause this summer.

Dubbed “the DreamBoats,” the men are featured in the pages of a 2010 calendar that will be sold at $20 a pop to benefit the Vashon Island School District. (A launch party is planned for Sept. 3.)

Each photo shows a different Island man in the buff, with an accessory or two representing his interests and conveniently covering his personal areas. The photos were taken outdoors by Island photographer Rebecca Douglas and show off not only the beauty of the male models, but of Vashon Island.

The men, and a trio of women who are “producing” the calendar, are hoping to raise $10,000 for a school system that has struggled mightily to forego layoffs this year and even put out a plea to parents to help keep a few teachers on staff.

“It’s nice to have this as a fun way to support the schools in an otherwise dreary financial environment for the district,” said Benner, 43, a financial planner and lawyer. “It was a lot of fun, actually. ... I haven’t done something like that before, and probably won’t again.”

Organizers point out, however, that the school district had nothing to do with the idea and doesn’t endorse the project in any way.

The calendar “was a really organic idea that came out of an unusual, creative bunch of morning banter on the way to work one day,” said Scott Harris, 38, one of the men who will grace the pages of the calendar.

He and others who ride the Vashon-Seattle passenger-only ferry came up with the idea of a “Real Men of Vashon” calendar at first as a joke, and then the idea gathered momentum when the commuters and friends realized they had a marketable idea."

We made the front page!

From the Vashon Beachcomber:

Molly Dillon sat in front of Vashon Thriftway selling homemade cookies and friendship bracelets on Sunday — not for an extracurricular club or Island nonprofit but to save teaching positions at her elementary school.

“We don’t want good people to lose their jobs,” the 10-year-old Chautauqua Elementary School student said matter-of-factly, a plate of chocolate chip cookies in front of her.

Indeed, many — from fifth-graders like Molly to the head of the school district — are working hard to try to help Vashon’s cash-strapped public schools stave off a round of layoffs that could cost several teachers their jobs.

An ambitious fundraising effort slated to end next week has garnered more than $25,000 so far — enough to save a portion of one position. School board member Laura Wishik, who is spearheading the effort, said she hopes the campaign will bring in $50,000 by the time it concludes on June 15.

Every little bit helps

Molly and I spent 2 hours outside the grocery store with a card table, some flyers, donation envelopes, a sign that said "Save our Teachers", cookies and two custom designed Donation Cans.

This was a direct result of my suggesting we should try something new during this budget crisis when a school board member called to ask me to make 25 phone calls about making a donation. I hate cold calling people. They resent it so. I mentioned we need some bake sales and I don't think anyone really took me seriously. People guffaw when I mention it, like I am joking. But I must have said it enough times because the school board member took me up on it and set it up for me. And, Molly of course. Couldn't have done it without her.

Don't get me wrong. One bake sale is not going to save us. But, maybe a whole bunch of bake sales could make a difference. And, then someone might even say, "Hey! Maybe we should have a comprehensive fund raising plan." And, someone else will say, "Yeah, you know we really should be raising money all year round. Every little bit adds up!" Hopefully those two will get heralded like geniuses because they are, quite obviously.

I commissioned 10 friendship bracelets from Molly as added inducements for larger donations. And, we had a plate of cookies; offering a cookie for a donation of any size.

I am probably just a little bit more than normally twisted because I actually like doing stuff like this. I have sold more than my share of spaghetti dinner tickets when I was a kid. I sold Camp Fire candy. I did retail. I have vended crafts at weekend markets. I helped my kid sell Camp Fire candy quite recently. Today was a snap.

People were, of course, very generous and supportive. In fact, we were able to take in $318.27 in two hours. I consider that worth doing.

One person said, "This is the most depressing thing I have ever seen." I assume meaning public schools having to resort to bake sales for support. There were much shaking of heads at the idiocy of our public education funding while they shoved $5, $10, $20 bills in our can. Some comments about needing a few less politicians. I was able to agree emphatically with each and every comment.

It is depressing. All the more reason we need to do something we haven't tried for a while. I guess my point was; we shouldn't all just give up.

There was a time in this country when a bake sale might have been the difference between having new math books or not. Why is it suddenly too embarrassing or humiliating or depressing to raise money like that now?

I have a fantasy; our local PTSA makes a genuine island wide plea to cookie bakers; each church, organization and group on the island is mined. I would hope we could get a core of 10 or 15 excellent cookie baking grandmas to answer the call and make a batch of cookies or two this summer. The teachers and the kids could spend time at the Fund raising booth at the Saturday Market every weekend through out the summer; selling and building practical math and customer service skills.

It is a PR and goodwill goldmine!

Who doesn't love my idea?

The editor of the local paper, The Beachcomber, came over and took some pictures and interviewed Molly. We may be in next week's paper. I will post a link when and if it becomes available.

Other brilliant crisis school fund raising ideas....

...other than just calling people and hassling them for a check!

Hat tip to gal pal, Deirdre.

- One day a week Granny's dedicates 50% of proceeds to the Teacher Fund. I recall about a year ago Granny's had a Too Much Money problem. Not sure if that is still the case, but certainly much of their clothing is donated by the Lost and Found at schools and the families that attend schools. Could they spare 1/6th of their proceeds for the next 3 months? A definite sunset date would ensure that this not become an ongoing embedded program that burdens that organization.

- A partnership with Thriftway like their breast cancer fundraiser. Cards and promotion at the checkout - Save Our Teachers! Again, who are TW's best customers? Do they want to lose families and teachers to the mainland? Maybe they will see such a drive in their own best interest...?

- Could Parks and the YMCA add a voluntary surcharge to their summer programs - ask parents signing kids up for summer classes and camps to check a $10 for Teachers box on all their forms? Or, would these agencies be willing to convert 1-5% of their program revenues to a teacher fund?

- We talked, briefly, about the state now allowing Districts to move to a 4-day week to save teacher positions - is that politically explosive? Why not give the teachers a chance to save their colleagues? I don't know the details of their contract, but am wondering if anyone's tapped into the teachers themselves for suggestions.

- I know librarians are also affected - maybe the Friends of the Library would be willing to donate their book sales revenues for the summer and spearhead a Save the Librarians drive?

- Also, no one cares more about the teachers than their students. Has anyone tapped the students for ideas? Car washes, bake sales, dances, festival - what could be more powerful for a teen than knowing they helped save their favorite teacher from a layoff? The Horticulture program is already doing this with their plant start sales - these monies go directly to fund a summer mentor for students in that program.

Bake sale anyone?

Our little school district has a budget shortfall of almost a million dollars for next year. Therefore 9 teachers have gotten the ax. These are sad, tough times for public education.

Our school board has approved a fund raising effort to try to help. They are asking each parent to chip in $150 per kid they have in school. And, they are passing the hat in the community. They are seeking volunteers to call 25 people to hassle them about the money. Or perhaps more diplomatically phrased; remind them of the dire straights our school district is in.

Frankly, I am not sure how successful this is going to be. It's not like we are unique. School districts around the state and country are hurting and purging teachers.

Our community has about 5,000 households. That would take every single household donating $200. I suppose it is worth a shot.

But, I sure would like to see some of that boundless creativity put to work to raise some money. Can we please be a little more creative than just asking for a check?

Will I send a check? Yes. But, I am not going to call and hassle anyone about it. People are hurting out there and I am not going to put the screws on someone who maybe just got laid off, is in foreclosure or just experiencing tough economic times. People know if they can give or not and I don't need to be the one to pressure them.

This is one of my pet peeves. Can we please come up with ANOTHER fund raising idea other than an auction or a phone-a-thon?

These are unprecedented times, calling for unprecedented fund raising measures.

So, when I say bake sale, I am serious. Or a talent show or an art sale or an fun run or whatever. Or all of the above, repeatedly. The point being someone may be able to donate a plate of brownies but not a $150 check. Someone may be able to donate time to coordinate an event but not a check. Someone might be able to come up with a really good idea for a fund raiser if the barn doors where blown off and everyone was thinking outside the normal box!

Or may be we should institute a state income tax so that we can fund public education properly!

But, since that isn't happening. Those of us who can, will whip out our checkbooks, write the check and send it in. There. Our responsibility is done.

Or is it?