Special thanks goes out to the tireless, and often times sleepless, efforts of Jill Piperata. Jill was our Event Chairperson, and worked tirelessly soliciting businesses for donations and organizing this event. This took a lot of energy and dedication, and sometimes perserverance, and Jill did an incredible job to make this event such a success. She was the driving force behind this event and we at HDAP cannot thank her enough. Jill also received tremendous support from HDAP staffers Mary Hanley and Tara Dyer. Both of these women also put remarkable efforts into the many details, from the sound system and centerpieces, to the brochure and packaging. We would also like to thank all the other staff members who put in a great deal of time, energy and money into this project, including (but not limited to) Amy Leopold, Helenmarie Fallon, Jass Pelland and Burgess Gordon. We would also like to thank our Board members, and their family members, as they also contributed so much to this night. Mike Griffin and his wife Susan Griffin donated their time and a great auction item to the event; Billye Byrum also donated her time and 2 tricky tray baskets to this event and we thank them all very much. This was not the limit of our Board participation as we are blessed with a very active board who all participated by contributing either auction items, tricky tray items, and/or donations to support this event. The staff at HDAP thank them very much.

Volunteerism didn't end with the staff and Board members, and we would like to thank all the others who helped in many ways to make this event happen. We would like to thank the great auctioneer Dale Blazure for so gratiously donating his time and talent to this event. We would also like to thank Helene "The Basket Queen" Meissner and Becky Brooking for their community support and efforts in putting the tricky tray baskets together. We would like to thank the family members of the staff who put time in the day of the event, helping to prepare the setup. Finally, we would like to thank the Elks Lodge #1928, Route 31, Flemington, NJ for letting us host this event there. I apologize if I missed anybody in this thank you section.

HDAP's Executive Director Glenn Duncan brought in a ringer to bid on items, as his 5 year old son Alessandro bid on a couple of auctions. The Auctioneer did a great job of guilting people by encouraging them to outbid and "bury" the little 5 year old (pictured on the right), which left them not bidding apparently due to the guilt of making a 5 year old lose and cry. This was actually a great strategy as one item looked like it had interest until the other bidder stopped, not wanting to mix it up with the 5 year old. I would fully recommend that those of you who are serious tricky tray/live auction attendees bring any cute 5 year old, as you are bound to save yourself some cash due to others not wanting to bid against them.

The one item that didn't sell was a great tutoring package offered by the Tutoring Club, Flemington, NJ. This package, valued at $450, included one month of tutoring (two one-hour sessions per week) in their math or reading programs, grades 1-12; diagnostic testing; and registration fees. This is only for new students, not anybody already affiliated with the Tutoring Club. If you are interested in bidding for this, please contact Jill Piperata at 908-788-1900, or via email at jpiperata@hdap.org.

This was a great fundraiser, and again thanks to all of you who supported HDAP in this effort in making this such a success. This fundraiser helps to support those Hunterdon County residents who couldn't otherwise afford substance abuse treatment. We hope to see you again next year!!