Theater Gala!

Well, the Gretna Theater's annual Gala was this Saturday, and, as usual, the Good Doctor, Rene, and Larry pulled off another great event. We love going, if not just because it connects us with the family that lived in our house before us--the Coghlan's, and with our neighbor, Reba. And its Mr. Coghlan that seems to be the theater's most remembered and cherished director. When we purchased this house, we asked for one piece of artwork to remain. Jack went along with that request, and let us select one out of three or so that he left behind on the closing day. He told us that they were all done by a family friend. Now that I have lived with that piece for a few years, I certainly recognize Coghlan's style and signature, and spotted another of his paintings Friday hanging in the doctor's office.

It was also interesting to see the finished construction work at the Hershey Hotel, and they really had the grounds loaded with potted plants and new trees. The food and champagne was great-especially the crabcakes and beef. And, we sat with the Meloni's and their crew, who turned out to be a fun crowd.

Although we left the event without reaching our spending limit, we still caved and made some spontaneous auction purchases. Last year, I made a potty-run and came back to find that my better-half had gotten caught up in the auction fever and won a helicopter ride for three. So, this year, I avoided consuming too many liquids so that I could stay and keep a governor on her while the hi-priced items were being auctioned. She broke free once, and started bidding on this beautiful ring that was valued at well over $1000. I have to admit that she has been buying me some very pretty jewelry this year and, well, this was a very pretty ring... So, I was tempted to let her go. But, when she counter-bid at $500, I thought that we were wading into dangerous territory since neither of us knew if it would even fit us. So, I flashed a grin at her and she turned her paddle over on the table--thank god!

This year, we won autographed Hank Williams Sr/Jett Williams music memorabilia that my country music-star grandfather will love (he used to be a back-up performer for one of the first country radio programs in Wheeling, West Virginia, and taught a number of the industry's icons their first guitar chords). One of the disc sets in the package was a compilation of recently discovered audio recording of Hank Sr.'s radio performances, so my grandfather is going to love it.

We also got a weekend getaway and the helicopter ride again. That pilot is awesome--its worth it just to meet her.

I kinda liked the football autographed by JoPa, but I was alone in that sentiment. Apparently, "he signs everything"--and that from a Penn State season ticket holder.

We donated a couple of things for the auction, including two of our Penn State season football tickets and was glad to see items donated from other local Gretnans. This year, let's make more a showing and really drum up some local donations for the next Gala.