The 2006 B. F. Day Elementary School fundraising auction takes place on Saturday, March 11th. As the tenth annual, it features all the most successful elements from auctions past – hand-crafted items made by each classroom, donations from the fabulous and the funky of Fremont businesses and after a delicious dinner a Dessert Dash where each table bids for their choice of delectable desserts while the lowest bidder gets the leftover plate of Twinkies.

Current principal Susan McCloskey reported that the 2005 auction garnered $65,000. She hopes to raise at least that much this year while Suzie Burke, Fremont Chamber of Commerce Treasurer, predicts “$75,000” without hesitation.

Sometimes it isn’t what you do, but what you don’t do. In the case of the B.F. Day auction, the Fremont Chamber takes half a smidge of credit for its success based solely on what we haven’t done.

History Of A Near Miss

B.F. Day Elementary is the oldest continually operating school in Seattle, and the only public school within our neighborhood’s boundaries. The Fremont community takes an active, and proprietary, interest in the school; especially since we faced its closure.

In 1985, the Seattle School District announced their plans to build a new, state-of-the-art B.F. Day, on the old Lincoln High site in Wallingford, and re-name it Latona. It may have all sounded good in theory but our community foresaw the oldest brick schoolhouse in Seattle standing like an empty, large, white elephant for decades to come. Mr. & Mrs. Benjamin Franklin Day gave the land for specific use for a school which would leave its ownership and any alternate use in question. The Fremont Chamber saw this as a kick in the head to a district down, at that time, and struggling to get up while for Wallingford it would be yet another school in a neighborhood of several.

Chamber Board Members Marc Jones, Terry Denton, Jim Daly and Suzie demanded they refurbish rather than remove. “Our interference at the School Board as a business district,” Suzie recalls, “made them step back and re-think. They were used to neighbors and teachers stepping forward, not businesses.”

The School District relented. “I was never sorry they did not move the school,” Carole Williams, then B.F. Day Principal explained later, “we would never have gotten the help from Fremont that we did.” Fund-raisers, donations of school supplies, development of a site council, volunteers and relationships continue to link our school within our community.

Continued Opportunity

The idea of an auction may have started with school parents or community supporters, or a combination of the two. Held in 1996 at Hale’s Ales Brewery, from the first it involved the whole community and raised $13,000. Carole and Susan give credit for the auction’s success to parent volunteers. Each year since the auction has grown slightly larger and slightly more successful, even as principals, community involvement and auctioneers shift and change.

After each auction, in the spring, parents sit down with the B.F. Day site council (an oversight committee of staff, parents and community representatives) to discuss the coming year’s budget. The auction funds – $65,000, $75,000 or whatever – get applied directly to the education of their children. School District money covers teachers and building costs, but these parents, the school staff and the principal demand high quality education. They want art programs, specialized math instruction and after-school tutoring. Through auction funds they’ve initiated a chess program, funded music and art teachers, paid for supervision and safety equipment on the playground and purchased computers.

And where does the Chamber enter in to it? That’s just it. We don’t.

History Of Our Own

We’ve held auctions to raise funds for various causes over the last 25 years. Our most successful, in my opinion, took place on December 13, 1989. The catalogue listed “Organizers and Credit Takers” as Mike Peck, Sandy Bucsit, Jim Daly and Debra Ching. Past-President Marc Jones worked as auctioneer and the event took place in the WoodSilk factory, located in the old Oddfellows Hall. WoodSilk created incredibly realistic silk plants and along with hundreds of real poinsettias they transformed the once cavernous space into an enchanted forest.

Attendees strolled 2 silent auctions before laughing their way through a rousing live auction. The Chamber also offered the poinsettias for sale for $15 each. “Offered” might be poor word choice. Suzie stood at the check out table in front of the exit door with each guest’s check out form. Even if attendees didn’t buy an auction item, she asked, “…and how many poinsettias did you want?” Could anyone answer that question with a “no”?

The balance statement published later says we raised $14,000 for “Friends of the Interurban.” This fund most likely paid for maintenance on the Waiting for the Interurban statue and the cupola that stood above it which, at that time, continuously needed light bulbs and payment of the electric bill.

Our last auction, held in December 1995, made a profit of $600 after deducting food, facilities and organization. By 1997, as Bold Hat Productions helped bring our Oktoberfest fundraiser to life – to fund Chamber activities as well as the myriad causes we assist throughout the year – Suzie suggested the Chamber formally “donate” our auction to B.F. Day. The Board of Directors eagerly stepped out of the auction biz. We promised never to hold another auction.

To this day, we promote the B.F. Day auction, urge attendance and help gather donations as if it were our own. We found, sometimes, we help best by what we don’t do. It isn’t always the easiest path – a promise to not do is easy to forget. Still, in the end, we stepped back and the parents have amply demonstrated their ability to take charge and help themselves, and their children. Our promise counts for little, but in the end we all benefit, even when we did nothing.

   March 2006