Guest auctioneer and trustee Vangel Cotsis takes a bid during the 2023 Thornton Fund Auction. Last year’s event raised nearly $110,000 to support academic and critical programming at the school. Contributed / Thornton Academy
SACO — The popular Thornton Fund Auction returns in May with the largest selection of items in its 17-year history.
Thornton Academy’s primary fundraising event, the hybrid auction offers supporters both online and in-person opportunities to bid on more than 125 items, according to an academy statement.
The auction supports critical programming, expands academic opportunities, provides free breakfast and lunch for students in-need, and enhances campus life, so whether bidding online or in-person, participants are making a difference in the lives of students.
“We’re very, very excited about the selection of auction items generously donated this year,” said Jennifer Day, Thornton’s director of development. “One of our favorite’s from the online auction is four weeks at Camp Waziyatah, the top rated camp in Maine and site of the Disney Channel’s hit show ‘Bug Juice: My Adventures at Camp.’”
Other items offered through the online auction include Boston Celtics tickets, a one-on-one guided Saco River fishing trip, two tickets to the Biddeford City Theater’s performance of “Oklahoma”, and a $250 gift certificate to Animal Hospital of Saco.
The online bidding takes place May 13-17, followed by the in-person event on Saturday, May 18, on the TA campus, starting at 5:30 p.m.
Items in the in-person auction include: a pair of tickets to Grammy-award winner Lainey Wilson at the Bangor Waterfront; a Scotty Cameron putter and four rounds of golf at Biddeford-Saco Country Club; a private dinner for up to six people with award-winning Master Chef Dennis Corriveau of The Wild Cheff; four tickets to Les Misérables at the Boston Opera House; a ride to a Saco school for up-to-four students in a Saco fire engine or for a single student in a Saco police cruiser. Other auction items include a seven-night stay at a condo in Vero Beach, Florida, backyard fire pit, and summer camps for the kids.
In addition to the online and in-person auctions, participants can purchase a raffle ticket for a chance to win $20,000 in cash prizes A maximum of 500 tickets will be sold, with seven chances to win (1st Prize: $10,000; 2nd Prize: $5,000; and five $1,000 winners). Winners do not need to be present to win.
The 21+ event, with lots of hors d ‘orderves and a cash bar, promises to be “the social event of the season,” Day said.
Learn more about the auction at www.thorntonacademy.org/auction.
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