A night of fun at Murieta Equestrian Center
OKC Corral started with a prime rib dinner and kept right on going Saturday night at Murieta Equestrian Center with live music, dancing, silent auctions, gaming and a poker tournament. The evening is geared to adult fun, but every year it raises thousands of dollars for youth sports, Cosumnes River Elementary School, and community events. The event is sponsored by Rancho Murieta's Optimist Club, the Kiwanis Club and Cosumnes River Elementary School PTA. (Click photos to see a larger image.)
Silent auction items were a cornucopia of goods and services from community businesses and talented individuals, offering everything from locally produced fine wines to a wheelbarrow full of plants.
Cosumnes River Elementary School students produced projects especially for the silent auction. Mrs. McConnell’s kindergarten class offered a show-stopping lemonade stand/puppet theater/serving cart. The top consisted of tiles decorated with the children’s handprints and names.
Ms. Miller’s class created the parts that added up to a colorful work of art. “Apple Tree with Red Fruit” attracted attention and lots of bids.
Skill or luck? At the blackjack table, you needed some of both.
The craps table was a popular spot to try your luck. Gaming included a Texas Hold ‘Em poker tournament.
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Because it was against the odds since many said an event of this magnitude could not succeed in this dismal economy, it was in a way the best OKC ever. We succeeded, and how! Nearly 600 dinners were served , and the comment most made was " how can the chiken be so tender?" Believe it or not, Red Oak's signature prime rib was even better than last year.
Darren Sexton's always evolving band had them dancing on the ceiling and dancing on the walls! Don't believe me? Ask the Coit Conants and the Don Craigs. The magician went from table to table and left them gasping. And the poker tournament drew a nice complement of challengers to Rob Brown's crown, which he unsuccessfully defended. "A fluke", he told me. Brian Bell is the new champ.The Kiwanis Club's own Wally Blair finished second, Eric Yager third.
The return of craps was a good idea. It can be a really fun game. And a number of nice prizes were donated for the craps and black jack winners, who included Erin Reed, Jared Huntsinger and Gary Pimentel's Mom, among others.
This all happened , and a substanial sum was raised (not nearly the most ever) for everything from emergency grants to families in sudden need to electronic white boards for CRES, really because CRES Principal Mike Gulden would not let OKC fail. He gave us new life, and even though an enormous amount of work is involved, the currently prevailing sentiment among the volunteers is "wait until next year, it will be even better".
Thank you PTA, especially Jen Mattos, Megan Garrison and Erin Howard. Thank you Optimists, especially April Mattice, and Phil Gibbons and Bill Vaughan. Thank you sponsors. Thank you Equestrian Center. And my personal thanks to Kiwanians Susan Sozzi, Ron Ruff and Clint Souza. Also, a special thanks to all the volunteers. But most of all, thank you Rancho Murieta! You are still kickin'. See you next year!
Al Dolata
R.M. Kiwanis Club President
Nellie,
Thank you for your post! Erin Howard, Megan Garrison and I pulled from the wonderful parents and staff at CRES to help us. They weren't our staff, they were our friends and volunteers that gave an hour (or two, or three). The volunteers are what made this year at OKC so successful. Jamie and Todd Pfeiffer made that huge arena look and feel like we were in a real saloon. The arena looked fantastic! You ARE AWESOME! Terry Foster worked her magic getting wonderful auction items. Caryn Rinaldi coordinated the class projects......THEY WERE SO CREATIVE THIS YEAR! A BIG BIG thank you to all the volunteers that helped with decorating, auction setup, check-in, check-out, silent auction monitors, cocktail servers, and the volunteers that got pulled in to help me close the auction tables, WOW...now that was crazy!
It was a great night! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!
I just wanted to send out a big thank you to everyone who participated in the OKC this year. This includes all the volunteers from CRES PTA (especially Jen Mattos, Megan Garrison and Erin Howard), the Kiwanis (especially Susan Sozzi, Ron Ruff, Clint Souza and Al Dolata) and my group, the Optimists as well as all the attendees of this event. Without your support we would not be able to give to the various programs throughout the community and local schools which include baseball, softball, la crosse, football, jr golf, boy scouts, girl scouts, 4th of July, Christmas tree lightiing, video arcade, Kings game trip, etc. A big thank you also goes out to all of our sponsors who make this event possible (especially Plaza Foods, Rancho Murieta Country Club and the Murieta Equine Center). Again, thank you for making this event a huge success!
April Mattice
OKC Corral volunteers! I've heard from so many people what a fabulous and fun event it was. I helped a teeny bit on Sat AM and was so impressed by Jen Mattos, her team and the wonderful donations. It's such a testimony to the kind of community this is! All the business and personal donations, the class projects, the volunteer workforce pulling together for Rancho Murieta youth - it's a beautiful thing. Thank you all!