Another Successful
PaddleWheeler Festival!
APRIL FUNDRAISER DRAWS BIG CROWD, RAISES $15,000
By Maryanne Buechner, Kindergarten Parent
Even before PTA treasurer Lisa Adolph had finished tallying up the day's receipts, volunteers at the spring Paddlewheeler Festival knew the event had been a success. ?We were completely booked and went into overtime,? Nathalie Schueller said as she dismantled the photo booth that occupied classroom K-103, where she had spent the day snapping commemorative shots of kids and parents for $5 a print. Davide Cantoni, an artist and future P.S. 8 parent?his son will attend Pre-K in the fall?painted the backdrop used for the shoot, a ship deck-side view of the Brooklyn Bridge. One highlight, photo booth volunteer Mary Goodman said, ?was that family of six all wearing pirate hats and growling, ?Arrghh!??
Between the photographers and face painters, ice-cream scoopers and silent auctioneers, the festival reeled in approximately $15,000 for P.S. 8?s Parent Teacher Association. The money will help cover capital improvements (such as the ongoing rewiring of classrooms for air-conditioning), classroom supplies, spring staff luncheons, the end-of-the-year party and other PTA projects. ?We?re in very good shape,? Adolph said.
The school was jam packed with people for most of the day, and new school T-shirts?particularly a royal blue version with a giant ?8? on the front in day-glo green?sold briskly, adding a splash of color to the already lively crowd. Several teachers volunteered alongside parents. Festival attendees shopped for Scholastic books, fashioned tiny boats out of milk cartons and straws, and noshed barbecue donated by Pig ?N Out or lasagna from Palmira?s. Sven Lapiner, owner of the Atlantic Ave. Ben & Jerry?s, estimated that he served some 900 cones. Smith Street restaurateur Alan Harding sold hotdogs out front?despite the stormy weather?donating all proceeds.
The silent auction, overseen by Agnes Krup, was the biggest moneymaker, raking in nearly $10,000 on a wide assortment of items, including a wine tasting, a cornucopia of cosmetics, a tennis lesson with 1st-grade teacher/tennis pro Greg Williamson and original artwork by Benjamin Trimmier (?Mr. B?). Meanwhile, the live entertainment? local kid-rock phenom Audra Tsanos and her All-Star Band, Ha! Ha! B Clown (Sista Zaraya), Caldecott-winning author /illustrator Paul O. Zelinsky, teenage juggling trio 3 of Clubs?drew enthusiastic crowds to the auditorium throughout the day. The P.S. Parents Band closed the show. It featured front man Jeff Newell on sax and washboard, Nick Balaban on keyboards, Jeff Adolph on trumpet and Marc Dannenhirsch on guitar.
Donovan Patton, who plays ?Joe? on the Nickelodeon show Blues Clues, anchored the program as emcee. Sporting one of the new P.S. 8 shirts (he chose burgundy with gold lettering), he cheerfully posed for pictures and mingled with fans in between stage appearances. Asked for his impression of the place, Patton, who lives in New York City and often attends fundraisers at schools as well as children?s hospitals, replied: ?I love the artwork on the walls, and the school seems to be a tight community, not just kids knowing each other but adults too, and that?s really nice.? Grinning, he added: ?Plus nobody kicked me in the shins.? Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz stopped by briefly to compliment Principal Seth Phillips on the school?s progress.
The P.S. 8 chorus, a group of 2nd-through 5th-graders led by music teacher Pearla Martin, assembled onstage in crisp white shirts to sing ?The Sweetest Sound? and ?The Cha-Cha.? Second-grader Max called the experience ?sort of scary? but satisfying after two months of rehearsals. ?I was nervous and confident at the same time," said another proud performer, fourth-grader Julia. Looking at the joyful mob of students who had joined Audra Tsanos to dance on stage for ?Sugar High,? her mother, Theresa Rivera, smiled and said she couldn?t be happier with how things were going at P.S. 8 for both her daughters (Vicky is in 3rd grade). ?It?s great to see how many parents have joined in to help make our school a better one.?
Paul O. Zelinsky, Caldecott-winning author/illustrator, gave a live demonstration of his imaginative illustration technigues.
Click the lion for more illustrations from Paul!
More pictures from the event coming soon...
This year's PaddleWheeler was held on Saturday, April 8, 2006
Download the color flyer here
Read about last year's Paddlewheeler Festival HERE
Posted on: April 17, 2006
