A budget shortfall a generation ago launched one of the region's most successful fund-raisers — and set a standard for those to follow.
The annual Gladhander event will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year when the party kicks off on Friday night, October 26, with the Preview Night that is free and open to the public. The next evening, the formal Main Event will draw between 500-600 attendees who flock to a transformed Traverse City St. Francis High School gym for an elegant evening of fun, food and festivities.
With a car, boat, helicopter ride, safari trip and hundreds of other items up for raffle, live, eBay and silent auction, the Gladhander institution provides a major boost to the school system. The highest total amount raised topped $430,000 and last year the fund-raiser brought in just over $378,000.
"It really just started out as a knee-jerk reaction: they were short this money for the budget and they decided hey, let's try out this party,” said Maggie Kent, who with her husband, Mike, is chair of the event for the second year of a three-year term. "They made so much money and it's just kind of snowballed from there and become such a, I hate to be tooting my own horn, but it's become The Party.”
"And it was just a bunch of moms and dads who got together and saw a need,” she added.
Planning for the first Gladhander began in November of 1982 when Ken Kleinrichert brought the idea for a party-type fund-raiser to the school board. He had seen how successful a similar party had been at a school in Fort Wayne, Ind., and thought it would help the GTACS community bridge a monetary shortfall.
Led by the first executive coordinator, Joe Groszek, the 1983 party's initial goal of raising $35,000 turned into $80,000 and a tradition was born. Inaugurating a big-ticket Grand Prize raffle tradition, that first year the car was a humble 1983 Volkswagen Rabbit two-door — a notable contrast to this year's choice of a 2008 Corvette, a 2008 Cadillac CTS or $32,000 cash.
"That was a big deal, it was people being visionary,” said Mark Esper of the first Gladhander.
Esper, the system's curriculum director who was both teacher and athletic director in 1982, added that after the first year, the idea had taken root: "You didn't have to sell the vision anymore.”
As it grew and flourished, Gladhander reached deep into the community beyond the school system, which boasts around 1,100 students in grades pre-K through 12. It became a community celebration that draws donations, volunteer effort and attendees who no longer have children in the school or never did.
"It has become far more than just a Catholic function,” said Mike Kent, co-chair of this year's event. "Really people in the community want to support a Christian education, not just Catholic. Some of the biggest bidders that night are not necessarily people who have ties to the school.”
Volunteers are key to Gladhander's success as more than 400 people of all ages, including St. Francis high school students, contribute in some fashion. With 17 committees and a timeline that starts each year in February, Gladhander organizers follow a winning formula honed over the years.
"The neat thing about it is it's such a well run organization,” noted Mike Kent.
And when attendees enter the gym on the evening of Saturday, October, 27, into a room usually filled with sweat and cheers, the culmination of months of effort is center stage in a transformed fairy land.
"You walk in the place and think, 'Is this really the gym?' It's so beautiful, it takes your breath away,” said Maggie Kent, who has been involved with Gladhander for 15 years. "After all these years working on it I am so in awe.”
For more information on the Gladhander events, raffle and auctions, call the Gladhander office at 941-4523 or see their web site: www.gtacs.org/gladhander.php.