Give Us Wings 10th Annual Celebration & Silent Auction March 28, 2009 Minneapolis

Give Us Wings 10th Annual Silent Auction & Celebration: Saturday, March 28, 2009

Please join us!

BUY YOUR TICKETS BY MARCH 23 AND SAVE!!!

Saturday, March 28, 2009
5:30 - 10 pm
McNamara Alumni Center
200 Oak Street SE
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Together with the courageous people with disabilities in Uganda's Mari Group, we will build a new village to bring safety, dignity and a loving place to call home to this brave community.

We'll gather in the beautiful McNamara Alumni Center at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and enjoy cocktails and a sit-down dinner catered by D'Amico with appetizers, African cuisine and dessert. Music and inspirational video presentations describing the progress and current projects will also be featured.

And of course, we'll have our Boutique and great Silent and Live Auction items!

- African artifacts
- hotel stays
- theatre tickets
- local art
- sports packages & autographed sports memorabilia
- gift cards to salon/spas and restaurants
- A week's stay in a villa in Italy!
- A chance to be a movie critic with Colin Covert, Star Tribune Film Critic.
- plus lots of other unique treasures!

Interested in donating an item to our auction? Volunteering? Becoming a sponsor? Email us! coordinator@giveuswings.org

BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW

Tickets will be available for purchase online until March 26.

You may also order by calling us at (651) 789-5606.

$50 in advance ($55 after March 23 or at the door)
$600 Reserved Patron Table for 10 (Reserve by March 26) Includes wine at the table. (Want to make sure you can sit with your group of friends, colleagues or family? Reserve a Patron Table! Corporations are encouraged to sponsor tables as well.)

EVENING SCHEDULE

5:30 - 7:00 - Silent Auction, Boutique, Designated Giving, Social Hour, Cocktails, Ugandan photo exhibit, and Music by Chris Herriges.

7:00 PM - Silent Auction CLOSES for the Night.

7:00 PM - Welcome by emcees Mari Harris and Robyne Robinson of FOX 9 and African-themed, sit-down dinner served by D'Amico.

7:30 PM - Presentation by Give Us Wings

8:30 PM - Break, Designated Giving, Boutique, Ugandan Photo Exhibit.

9:00 PM - Dessert served, Live Auction, Video and Music by Charlie Hartwell, Unveiling of the Mari Group Designated Giving Quilt, Silent Auction winning bid numbers announced.

10:00 PM - Silent Auction check-out begins

Designated Giving and Boutique shopping until 11:00 PM!

Thank You Comcast- our Media Sponsor!

THANK YOU Comcast for being our Media Sponsor for Give Us Wings 10th Annual Celebration & Silent Auction!

Live Auction Item! Movie Lover's Dream

You can be a movie insider, a member of the Twin Cities most exclusive group of film-goers. Be the first to see the next blockbuster and sit in on celebrity interviews! Minneapolis Star Tribune film critic Colin Covert brings a few film fans along to special advance critic's screenings of new movies and to interviews with film industry personalities. You could be one of them. See the hottest new movies before anyone else and learn how Colin, Minnesota's most respected critic, evaluates a film.

The winning bidder gets:

-- Free movies for a year! Attend up to 15 films with Colin during the year, all exclusive advance screenings.

-- Discussion of the movie afterward with Colin and a few other film fans like you.

-- The opportunity to meet celebrities! When a movie star or director comes to town, Colin could bring you along to the interview.

-- BONUS FEATURE: If we can get the bidding over $1000, all limits are off! Colin will take you to as many movies as you want for a year. You could see hundreds of free films!

This is a once in a lifetime dream for a film fan.

What a special gift this would be for the movie lover in your life!

(See Colin review films on line at www.startribune.com -- click on entertainment)

Live Auction Item! Escape to Tuscany, Italy.

We asked the proprietors of Il Mulino to share all the intimate details of this year's featured Live Auction item: a one-week vacation at their idyllic Italian villa.

Here's how Doris described it ...

We are centrally located in Italy for convenient day trips to Lucca (20 minutes), Pisa and the ocean-side beaches of Viareggio (40 minutes) and Montecatini, the famous spa town (20 minutes). We are about 45 minutes by car from Florence, or you can drive your car to a nearby train station and from there, it is a pleasant hour by train to the Florence station in the center of town, thereby avoiding traffic jams and parking problems. We are about an hour and 15 minutes from Siena and one hour from Greve, the heart of Chianti country with delicious wine tours! There are several small lovely restaurants among the vineyards near us for a relaxing dinner after a day's travels.

There is a small grocery about 2 kilometers in the village of Segromigno, about 3 kilometers down the hill that offers all services such as a pharmacy, post office, supermarket, weekly and fruit/vegetable market.

There is also a back-area garden where one can wade in the brook and a waterfall up the trail behind the house that is fun to climb over, stand under and take a natural shower. In summer, it is 3-5 Celsius degrees cooler than the average temperature.

We have patio furniture and lounge chairs for relaxing in the areas next to the brook. The bridge in front is also a long patio spanning the house with table and chairs, which enables you to dine outside.
The view in the front of the house is the brook and the church of Tofori which sits prominently on the hill in front of us. A short walk to the top of our driveway opens to a view of the olive groves, and vineyards.

Our totally private vacation home features its own kitchen, living and dining room and 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a studio with a desk and extra daybed all on one floor.

Perfect for 2 couples or friends.

The interiors have terra cotta floors and chestnut beamed ceilings, with charming antique furnishings and comfortable beds, all new plumbing, electrical systems and new appliances, including a laundry.
Our house rests on its own bridge, in its own valley, with a bubbling brook that runs beneath the house.

We are on-site owners (English and Italian speaking) and live in an attached apartment for any needs you may have.

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Wow! What an experience that will be. So join us on March 28 for our 10th Annual Celebration and Silent Auction and let the bidding begin!

Live Auction Item! Saint Paul Hotel Dining and Getaway Package

This is the perfect way to get away without having to really go very far at all! This package valued at $300 includes deluxe room accommodations for two at the historic Saint Paul Hotel in downtown St. Paul. Turndown service, mineral waters and special room preparations will await you and your guest.  In addition, you'll receive dinner for two at the renown St. Paul Grill (up to $100) located in the hotel.

Consistently ranked among the country’s top hotels, the famous Saint Paul Hotel continues to provide luxurious accommodations and legendary service. It is known for its old-world charm and European inspired elegance, and is located in the heart of St. Paul’s charming Rice Park entertainment district. Guests can conveniently visit the OrdwayCenter, the Science Museum of Minnesota, the Xcel Energy Center and RiverCentre.

Live Auction Item! Authentic Italian Dinner for 8

Gather a group of your closest friends and enjoy a private Italian dinner in a beautiful 100-year-old farm house in Woodbury, fondly named La Bella Casa. This wonderful home belongs to your personal chef, Bonnie Prokosch, and will be the setting for a memorable Italian evening with your friends. Enjoy an italian dinner for 6 or 8 people, with authentic Italian cooking, hors d'oeuvres and wine, stuffed shells and homemade Italian sausage, and dessert. As you listen to italian music in the background, you and your guests will be able to visit and wander outside to the gazebo or curl up in the parlor by the fireside (depending on when in the year you decide to dine!).

Value: $500

Live Auction Item! 12 Pints of Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream

Imagine... a pint of delicious Ben & Jerry's every month for a year!

You'll get 12
gift certificates worth a pint each. Use them when you chose, and it's your choice of flavors. Think Chunky Monkey, New York Super Fudge Chunk, Cherry Garcia, Phish Food, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Coffee Heath Bar Crunch...

Our personal favorite? Imagine Whirled Peace, of course.

Value: $50

Members of the Mari Group

Meet some of the members of the Mari Group.

More photos and project details.

Great Silent Auction Items!

Over 200 items await your bid! From African artifacts, to gift certificates to local restaurants and shops, creative gift baskets, jewelry, sport packages, photo sessions, wine, and so much more...

Here's just a sampling!

-Minnesota Wild Autographed Hockey Stick

-Harley Davidson Leather Jacket

-Juut SalonSpa and Details Salon/Spa gift certificates

-Minnesota Twins Tickets, Bobbleheads, and baseball bat signed by Justin Morneau

-Bach Stradivarius Trumpet

-Pearson's Salted Nut Roll- 25 pounds!

-Minnesota Wild Tickets

-Gift certificates to Sebastian Joe's, Punch Pizza, Famous Dave's, Hell's Kitchen, Lion's Tap, Panera Bread, Sunsets,

-Gift Baskets featuring: Spa items, Summit Brewery, books, wine, gardening, birds, baby items, art supplies from Wet Paint, auto essentials.

-Quilted wall hanging

-East African Xylophone

-Ordway Center Tickets

-Zenith Portable DVD Player

-Spirit Mountain Ski Passes

-Violin

-African soapstone bowls and small sculptures and chess set

-Samburi clay doll

-Hand carved Wooden Elephant

-African drums, baskets and wooden bowls

-Saint Paul Saints Tickets

-The Park Tavern-- Bowling Party

-Purse and Jacket from Quince

-Maasai beaded neckpiece

-Deluxe Grass/Weed Trimmer

-Minnesota Orchestra Tickets

-Handcrafted wooden table, toy cars and clock

-Walker Art Center Passes

-NBA Basketball signed by Timberwolves players

-Comprehensive Financial Planning

-Aveda Gift Baskets

-Charlemagne gift certificate

-Feng Shui Consultation

-Handmade afgans

-Handy Person for a Day

-Totally Bamboo chopping board and plates

-Vouchers to Theaters! Stages Theatre Co., Illusion Theater, Theatre in the Round, Jungle Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, Historic Theatre, Old Log Theatre, Teatro del Pueblo, Park Square, The Southern Theatre, Steppingstone Theatre, and Pillsbury House Theatre.