Auctioning off the Rookies....

.... always THE highlight at the Annual Booster Club Players Appreciation Banquet..

We do so appreciate the rookies.
All 10 of them.
That's coaches and staff, too!
Yep.

The live auctions of
"Lunch with the Rookies" and
"The Jersey of Nr. 62"
went fast, real fast. All thanks to 'rookie' Denver Wilson,

who has his auction patter down pat.

FYI: As a (former?) rodeo roper and aspiring livestock
(do rookies count?) auctioneer(he'll head to Wisconsin ? this summer to hone this patter, he told us), he rattled off increments of 25s and 50s, so before we all knew it the price shot up and up and, bingo, 'Kids Unlimited' were richer by some $ 1000's.

Well, even Better Half got in on the auction action, but stopped when the 'jersey of Daoust' hit a certain high (somewhat beyond our budget limit).

After all we had already bid, and won (I kept an eagle eye on them),
3 silent auction items.

• Such as Braden Holtby's signed Photo to keep the puck, he signed last year at play offs in Austin, company.In a recent interview Holtby (21 yrs)when asked about The Water Squirt as Holtby squirts water out of his bottle during stoppages in play, picks out one  specific drop from the spray, and follows it to the ground with his eyes. BTW I did not see that last year "Actually, that looks a little weird," he admitted. "If you can focus in on something, it sharpens up your vision." "I think everyone else is scared of looking weird," he said. "I don't really care, as long as it helps me stop the puck."

• Better Half - being a goalie fan - got Harding's 04-05 Aeros season stick, signed by what looked about a third to a half of the then team(now proudly displayed on the study door...open it too fast and the stick sets off an alarm).
• And last but not least a Symphony/Restaurant package..after all artandhockey must have some art (musical and culinary) somewhere? The question now is do we choose Shostakovitch or Mahler?

All in all, the atmosphere inside the Country club was

warm (so nice) and friendly. Lots of joshing among players and coaches, and pleasantries from players to fans made for a good event. And thankfully, NO long winded speeches by any one.

The two kids from KU did well, kept it short and sweet. 

But a bit emotional..tears were observed flowing.