| Irish Fest Nets Around $18,000 |
A day filled with Irish spirit and family fun raises around $18,000 for the North Platte Catholic Schools. Sunday, February 28th, the 35th annual Irish Fest celebration was held at St. Patrick’s High School. Attendees enjoyed a roast beef dinner, silent auction, bake sale, mini carnival games and Fun
Jumpz. North Platte Catholic Schools Endowment-Trust Director Wendy Dodson estimates that over 300 people took part in the celebration. Over 160 pounds of roast beef were served, over 7,000 game tickets were sold for the mini-carnival, and bids were placed on 67 silent auction items.
Irish Fest also included a raffle offering a 50” HDTV, professional basketball tickets, and multiple cash prizes. Dodson says over 5,500 raffle tickets were sold. James O’Malley of North Platte won the 50” HDTV. Andrew Jett of North Platte won 5 tickets to see the LA Lakers play the Denver Nuggets April 8th in Denver. Deb Correll of North Platte was the winner of $1,000 cash. Five raffle winners received $100 cash prizes. They are: Pat Gokie (O’Neill), Lindee Doyle (North Platte), Kim Gallentine (North Platte), Roger Ochs (North Platte), and Byron Welk (North Platte).
Dodson says that school and community support, and incredible volunteers are what make Irish Fest a success every year. Corporate and individual sponsors also provide the funding necessary to underwrite portions of the event. This year’s Irish Fest sponsors include: American Mortgage Company/American Agency, State Farm Agent Bill
Burbach, Dr. Jason Citta/Midlands Family Medicine, Jerome & Janet
Gilg, Jones Law Office, Jorgensen Chiropractic Care, Bill & Julie
Mackley, NebraskaLand National Bank, James & Deb O’Malley, Diana L. Phelps Insurance Agency, Phelps Family Dentistry, Platte Valley Physical Therapy, Spectrum Quick Copy
Center/Copyrite Printing, True Clean Carpet Care, Jeffrey L.
Vap/Edward Jones, Weathercraft Roofing & Overhead Door, Westfield Small Animal Clinic.
This was the 35th year for the event that began as “Mardi Gras” in 1975. Since its inception, Irish Fest has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for North Platte’s Catholic Schools. |
Read about the
2009 - 2008 events
here.
If you have ideas for new games or activities please contact Wendy at the Endowment office. Volunteers are always needed
so let us know if you’d like to help!
534-5939, director@npcset.org |