This year’s AEF fundraiser party at the St. Regis on Friday November 8, brought back memories from the ‘glory days’ for many adults in the Aspen community. The theme this year was “Homecoming”, and everyone attending the party was supposed to dress in black and red to show their school spirit, or wear their old cheerleading outfits and letterman jackets.

“I pulled out my cheerleading outfit from when I was in seventh grade, and I couldn’t even button up the back,” AEF board member Leslie DeRosa said.

To add to the homecoming spirit and fill the St. Regis ballroom with the sights and sounds of a homecoming football game, there was a special performance by AHS’s own dance team and pep band, providing an example of a program that AEF supports.

Before the Give-to-Give portion and live auction, the band of about sixty kids from the school district marched into the ballroom at The St. Regis and played to get the crowd more excited. The loud beat of the drums and the glare of the horns startled the crowd at first, but it certainly caught everyone’s attention. The dance team did some of their cheers to get everyone on their feet and, as it turned out, more willing to open their wallets and donate.

The band and dance team created an electric, high energy atmosphere.

“I think we brought much more excitement to the room and got everyone pumped up, like they are during the football games,” AHS dance team member Bentley Rager said.

AEF Executive Director Melissa Long thought that this would be a more unique and interesting idea instead of the heart-warming film they do every year.

“Since my daughter is in the band, I went to my first AHS football game this year and watched as Steve Heldt led the pep band, and just thought it would be such a cool idea to have them perform for the parents to see some of the programs we fund,” Long said. “It took a lot of choreography, but it all came together in the end. We couldn’t have done it without the help of students and teachers who are eager to take pride in their school.”

This year, all of the silent auction bidding was done online on a site called Bidding For Good. Items were displayed at the event and bids were placed online through smart phones. The online auction this year, due to the online bidding, allowed AEF to raised over $219,000 even before the auction started, as the silent auction bidding was open for bids a week before the event. Many items were even bought out at 120 percent of their value before the event. This online auction allowed people outside the community to bid as well.

“We moved to online bidding because our school is trying to promote the use of technology, and it is truly the wave of the future. It was so much more work up front, people were frustrated and some stopped bidding because the lines went down and people didn’t know how to use it, but it raised over $44,000 more on the silent auction than last year, which was our record,” Long said.

Even with the technology issues the night of the party, this year’s fundraiser raised more money than ever before. AEF sold over 500 tickets, a record number of attendees, and there were about 100 people who were not at the party including grandparents, friends, and strangers who bid online for items at the silent auction.

“My goal was a wish and a hope. I wanted to raise $400,000, and I can honestly say that we far surpassed that goal,” Long said. “However, I could have never made this happen without the help from volunteers, board members, community members, students, parents, and teachers. They do so much to make it work and I extremely appreciate all the time and effort that went into it.”