Winter Banquet a Big Hit
Burlington, IA (January 21, 2008) - The New Year is off to a fast start as the 5th Annual Friends of Community Field/Burlington Bees Winter Banquet was a big hit on Saturday night. Despite sub-zero temperatures outside, a record-turnout of 179 guests gathered at the Great River Convention and Events Center adjacent to Catfish Bend Casino for food, fun, and to hear from keynote speaker Al Hrabosky. Between the tickets, auctions, and raffle, this year's event raised just over $11,000 for the stadium capital improvement fund.
"We're extremely pleased with the turnout on Saturday night and the results of this year's event," Bees General Manager Chuck Brockett said. "Al Hrabosky did a nice job as our speaker and was great in making time and signing autographs for everyone that wanted to meet him. Hopefully this is a sign of how excited everyone will be when Opening Day arrives in April."
Each element of the fundraiser did better than ever before. The live auction raised $7,500 thanks largely to a generous package offered at the last moment by Hrabosky himself. He offered four box seats to a Cardinals game, the chance to watch batting practice on the field, a visit to his TV booth, a tour of Busch Stadium, and a $100 credit to the "Al Hrabosky Ballpark Saloon" across the street from Busch Stadium. As the bidding grew, so did the package as autographed baseballs from Stan Musial, Red Schoendienst, Whitey Herzog, Tony LaRussa, Lou Piniella, and Ron Santo plus an overnight stay in St. Louis. As the bidding grew, Al stepped up and offered to let both bidders have the package if they would commit a final bid of $1,750 and both agreed. The silent auction raised another $2,390 with baskets of local goods and gift certificates and the highest bid on autographed items went for a package that included and autographed bat and base from Royals All-Star Mike Sweeney who rehabbed with the Bees in 2006. There was also a raffle that included a wide variety of prizes including another Sweeney bat, a signed jersey from Royals reliever Joel Peralta, and a 2008 Bonus Book of Bees tickets. The raffle raised another $620.
In addition to Hrabosky's talk, the program featured some nice moments. Bees President Dave Walker received a standing ovation after the first light show in Bees Banquet history re-created the scene from the Baseball Winter Meetings where Dave was named this year's "King of Baseball." Brockett also presented Homer Heitmeier with a special jacket in thanks for his generous contribution that led to the construction of the new Homer's at Third concession stand at Community Field.
To see some of the action, fans can check out the photo gallery that will accompany the recap on the Bees' official website at
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