It Takes A Community…
By Bea Peterson
Euphoric is the best word to describe the atmosphere in the Hoosick Falls Armory on Saturday evening, May 4, for the HAYC3 Spring Sing Gala and Auction. The Perry Room looked its best with long sheer black curtains on the windows, more than two dozen linen covered candlelit tables scattered around the room plus beer/wine and fruit-flavored water stations, a chef’s station, tables running the length of one wall with silent auction items and another wall lined with items to be auctioned off. Chefs from Hoosac School outdid themselves with succulent hor d’oeuvres. Folks wandered the room talking with friends, looking at the auction items, tasting the cheeses, seafoods and meats and purchasing drinks. On the stage singers Ric DiDonato, Shari Hand, Joe Shaw and Dave Sutton, accompanied by Richard Cherry were an entertaining musical delight. They were followed by well known auctioneer Ron Seifert whose silver tongue quickly had the numbers rising on 17 auction items that included a day at the races, original paintings, an airplane day trip, a Cape Cod weekend, a handmade quilt, dinner for eight in your own home and much more.
A final round of music and desserts concluded the evening.
For the Board of HAYC3 the countless hours of planning over many weeks had paid off. The room was set up for 200 people and 198 tickets were sold. Board member Rick Tinkham pointed out that for the evening almost everything had been donated and all the people involved were volunteers.
He said Board members Cathy Gee Graney and Amanda Rudzik had spent countless hours working on the event. Tinkham and Graney also had endless praise for the members of Hoosick Rising. “I know it sounds silly,” said Graney, “but they really rose to the occasion. We made a great team.” Tinkham said Hoosick Rising member Joe Shaw thought of the theme and Marianne Zwicklbauer’s endless help and support was immeasurable. Aaron Bobinski and Deb Alter were extremely helpful as well. Then there were Jerry McAuliffe and his work crew, Cathy and Kevin Gleason, Miriah and Todd Dowing, and all the sponsors and supporters, including “our families” added Graney, who made it happen.
“This was a great mix of community support,” said Tinkham. All of the schools, Cambridge, Hoosac, Hoosick Falls and St. Mary’s had a part, plus the Youth Center, Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, Hoosac School, Hoosick Local Development Corporation, TXNY Properties LLC and Brown’s Brewing Company. Credit goes to those who donated items for the two auctions and to the community of people who purchased all the items.
“The HAYC3 Board has come a long way in six months,” said Tinkham who recalled going before the Town Board in December to state the Armory was in serious financial trouble. “We had to make some tough decisions,” said Graney. Releasing the staff was difficult. “Closing the after school program was so hard,” she said. She added at that time the Board set three financial milestones in an appeal to the community and the first two were not reached by their goal date. She and Tinkham noted the Armory had an enormous amount of debt that the Board has been whittling down little by little. Though the full amount achieved by the Gala is not known yet, the tremendous success of the event will definitely relieve more of that debt.
As members of the HAYC3 Board they want the community to know the 130 year old Armory is alive and well. “With the renters in the building, minus the debt, the Armory is sustainable,” said Tinkham.
They are both enthusiastic about its future, as are Rudzik and fourth board member, Andrew Cowder. “We get requests to use the building quite often,” said Graney. They expect to see the building be a bigger part of the community every day, thanks to the many people and organizations in the community that have rallied to support it.