Love, As Always, Pete

The Weekly Letters, by A. Pedersen Wood

March 7, 2014

Dear Everyone:

Last Sunday was the 86th annual Presentation of the Academy Awards.  For a number of years “Jeannie” and I, along with one or more friends, have been attending a screening of the Awards ceremony at a nearby movie theater.  This is done as a Benefit for an organization known as “STAND! For Families Free of Violence” (or SFFOV, for short.)

The organization began thirty-some years ago with a volunteer and a single phone line in a utility closet somewhere.  They were there to help what was known at the time as “Battered Women”.  The “typical” victim was a woman trapped in a situation where some bully or other was making himself feel more powerful by using her as a punching bag.  The idea was to get the woman out of the situation and in to some kind of a safe haven.

Over time “battered women” was replaced with “domestic violence” as someone realized that not all the victims were necessarily women.  Meanwhile, another volunteer organization was concentrating on helping children who were in equally bad situations, sometimes involving family members.  Eventually, the two organizations “merged” and became “STAND! Against Domestic Violence”.

This was all well and good; but then someone pointed out that having a “negative” in the name might give the wrong impression.  So they changed it to the aforementioned “STAND! For Families Free Of Violence”, which says it all, but takes up a lot of space on a check.

I’ve been supporting this organization for a long time now, so when they decided to put on a benefit with the Academy Awards, I got a notice in the mail.  The rest, as they say, is history.

A local theater donates the space and arranges for some kind of simulcast link up to a satellite service (which may also be donated, although there’s no mention, so maybe not.)  Local restaurants donate food and drink.  And there’s always popcorn, of course.

They also have a kind of contest to see who can lay claim to the title “Best Dressed Man”, “Best Dressed Woman”, and “Best Dressed Group”.  When you arrive, they give you a series of little paper “tickets”.  When you see the person you regard as “Best Dressed…” you give them the appropriate ticket.  Whoever has the most tickets by the end of the evening wins.

What do they win?  Don’t really know, since I’ve never paid much attention to that part of the proceedings.  “Jeannie” usually dresses for the occasion, and I have pictures to prove it.  This year she opted for flowing tresses, basic black and understated elegance, a symphony in vintage red jewelry.  I opted for jeans and sneakers, which were more comfortable, at least for me.

In the past, there have been raffles for prize combinations of things donated by local businesses.  There were also Silent Auction Items that could be bid on.  During the commercial breaks of the Awards ceremony (remember that?) they would come out and announce the raffle ticket numbers and corresponding prizes.

This year they decided to discontinue the raffles and concentrate on the Silent Auction.  One prize was an airline ticket to just-about-anywhere.  And there was no suspense as to the winner.  If you wanted it, you just kept outbidding everyone else until you got it.  (Hello, eBay!)  This actually worked better, since it eliminated the need to read tiny numbers on little tickets in very little light (ever notice that theaters are still dark, even though the picture may not be “projected” on to a screen anymore?)

So how much money did the deserving organization garner?  Over $18,000 in one night.  Pretty good.

As for the Awards program itself, the clothes and (“borrowed”) jewelry were fabulous and all the right people won, of course.  And it only ran overtime by about 35 minutes.

Love, as always,

 

Pete

Previous   Next