And the winner is?

 

And the winner is….

 

 

Balloons, over-sized mural posters, Route 66 Mural City shields, wine bottle table pieces displaying Cuba murals, all set the scene for the May 14 Mural City Party, a community event and fundraiser for the Viva Cuba Mural Project.

The event brought friends, family, and Viva Cuba supporters out to party for a cause and vie for the winning ticket for the $10,000 drawing. During the earlier part of the evening, there was a lot of socializing, some mural-related events, and then a tasty buffet dinner.

Periodically, Jason and Scott Holland, the evening’s MCs drew numbers for door prizes that Cuba businesses, individuals, and organizations generously provided. Huddle House also contributed although they were too late to get on the table display.

Many stepped up to contribute some great door prizes.

Our wacky MCs, presented Missy Mullally with her spa package from X-Centrix.

Some of the door prizes involved games. Here’s one that had to do with balancing cookies on the forehead. Retired banker Ken Holland won this one. Who knew what talents lurked behind the exterior of the ex-banker?

The Chair-i-table Auction brought out the bidders and raised almost $2000 for the furniture that Missouri artists designed and painted. Four other silent auction items brought $955 more to add to the mural fund.

Viva Cuba members tallied the results of the Chair-i-table Auction.

Fifty-fifty sellers Jim Bronstad and Bruce and Jan Work sold 50-50 tickets at a furious pace, resulting in a $1200 profit.

Of course, the long-awaited part of the evening, was the drawing for the $10,000 dollars by Father James of the Catholic Church. Thomas and Geraldine Martin, with a home just outside Cuba, won the grand prize. However, they weren’t there. They were at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis watching the musical Jersey Boys, according to their representatives at the party.  MC Jason Holland lost no time calling the lucky winners at the Fox to tell them the good news. We hope the 3-alarm fire that struck the Fox later that night was not influenced by this hot news. Congratulations to the Martins and thanks for supporting our mural project.

See this video to hear at least one side of the conversation informing the Martins of their win.

After the drawing, Steve Black cranked up the tunes, and the dance party started.  Cuba’s popular Zumba fitness classes influenced some of the dances, but everything from disco, the twist, to the jitterbug made an appearances at one time or the other.  And what party is complete without a conga line?  Here’s a look at a little of the dance frenzy.

All in all, it was a fun evening. Thanks to all the supporters who came out to the Knights of Columbus Hall contribute to Viva Cuba’s Mural City Project. The mural phenomena could not happen without the support that Viva Cuba gets from the community and its friends.

Expenses for the evenings event are still being tallied, but approximately fourteen thousand dollars have been raised for the murals and other community betterment projects. With the other other amounts raised at the event, that brings the total to somewhere around $18,000.

That makes us all a winner.

The Route 66 Mural City centerpieces and the balloons decorated the KC Hall.