We are getting very close to our 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction. Reservation forms will be going home early this week and will also be posted on our website.

Please keep the prizes coming. We have many great ones, but need more!

We are also in the process of putting together our very popular Live Auction Dinner Party prizes. Would you be interested in hosting one this year? These dinners raise a good deal of money for Clinton School and they are always incredibly fun.

Here is how it works: You come up with a dinner idea, tell us the number of guests you can have, choose a date, and write up a description. We will then auction off seats to your dinner party during our Live Auction.

If you are willing to host a dinner, please contact Cecelia Cancellaro at ccancellaro@verizon.net as soon as possible. We are pasting in some descriptions of past years’ dinners below to give you a sense of what they entail.

We would like to have our list of dinners finalized by January 17th, so please get in touch soon.

Here is a list of last year’s amazing dinner parties:

Dinner Party #1: A Fabulous Italian Feast on Saturday. Hosted by Jackie LaFalce Lahey and Scott Lahey, this authentic Old-World dinner featuring a menu based on Grandma’s mouthwatering recipes, will include an antipasto platter, meatballs and sausage, pasta, and Italian pastries, with accompanying wines. Salud! 10 guests (must be at least 21 years old). Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #2: North Carolina Style Barbecue Feast Hosted by the Janay family, Owners of “Woody’s Pig Roasts”, this North Carolina style barbecue feast will celebrate the great culinary offerings of the Old North State. Menu items include pulled pork, baby back ribs, beef brisket, and chicken, along with traditional barbecue sides. Come hungry and be ready to take home leftovers. 8 guests (adults only). Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #3: An Elegant Cocktail Party, Saturday, hosted by Principal Patty O’Neill and Leah Gomberg. Wear cocktail attire to this elegant affair which will take place at the home of Leah and David Gomberg. Gourmet hors d’oeuvres and delectable desserts will be paired with wines chosen by Clinton parent and sommelier Scott Lahey. Tunes will be spun by Clinton parent and DJ Jeremy Moss. 10 guests (adults only). Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #4: Traditional Seven-Fish Italian Christmas Eve-Style Dinner. Join Liz and Don Salituri at their home for an amazing menu of Italian holiday dishes, including cold seafood salad, mussels in garlic white wine sauce, clams oreganata, shrimp scampi, cod mariechara, and grilled salmon. And wine of course. 10 Guests (adults only). Opening Bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #5: Traditional Puerto Rican Dinner, hosted by Rose Rios and Bob Leto. Puerto Rican cuisine is similar to both Spanish, Cuban and Mexican cuisine, but with a unique tasty blend of Spanish, African, Taíno, and American influences. Come enjoy the labors of a true “cocina criolla” in Maplewood. Menu includes tasty appetizers of empanadas made of garlic and lime infused chicken as well as seared tuna on plantains with a micro cilantro salad and chipotle vinaigrette. Main course will consist of seafood paella and a traditional “lechon” (whole pig). Side dishes will include sweet plantains, and white rice with home grown pigeon peas straight from my uncle’s back yard in Puerto Rico. Avocado and “yuatia” salad with olive oil and caper dressing will also be served. Dessert will be a real island delight of caramel flan and guava bread pudding. We’ll also have a sangria fountain. (My white passion fruit sangria recipe is four generations old and is only handed down from mother to daughter!) Buen Provecho! 10 guests (adults only) Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #6: A Belizean Dinner. Bring your appetite to the home of Rosanna and Dermal McCrear and enjoy the delicious cuisine of Belize. Menu items include panades, garanaces, relleno, ducunu, potato pone, coconut tart and Belikin Beer directly from Belize. 8 guests (adults only) Opening bid: $25 per seat

As you know, our 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction will be held on Saturday evening, February 11th at the hall in St. Joseph’s Church in Maplewood. Please mark your calendar and save the date. You won’t want to miss this incredibly fun event. Reservation forms will be sent out in early January.

WE ARE NOW COLLECTING PRIZES AND WE NEED YOUR HELP

Please keep us in mind in the wake of all the holidays. Perhaps you got a double of something, or just got something that really isn’t your style… We can use it!

And please remember to let us know if you have services to donate or if you work for a company that might be able to donate an item. If there is a restaurant you frequent, perhaps you can ask them for a gift card donation. If you need our official letter, just let us know and we’ll email it to you.

We have some AWESOME prizes already including tickets for Late Night with David Letterman, tickets for The Daily Show, a Kindle Fire, Walt Disney Park Hopper Passes, and a Woody’s Pig Roast for up to 30 people!

We still need much, much more though so please let us know if you can help. We’d like to have all prizes in hand by mid-January.

Contact Cecelia Cancellaro (ccancellaro@verizon.net/973-763-1730) if you have a prize to donate or if you want to help us put together this event.

Support
South Orange/Maplewood Schools
At
JC’s Closet
19 Scotland Rd
South Orange

Join us for Support South Orange/Maplewood Schools week at JC’s Closet!  Mention your school while shopping for great gifts during the week of 12/15 – 12/22 and we will donate 10% of purchases to your school’s PTA.

What an incredible way to give and get!

As you know our 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction will be held on Saturday evening, February 11th at the hall in St. Joseph’s Church in Maplewood. Please mark your calendar and save the date. You won’t want to miss this incredibly fun event. Reservation forms will be sent out in early January.

Last year we raised almost $26,000 at our Tricky Tray/Auction and this year, of course, we want to do even better! The money raised at this event each year has been responsible for major purchases including playground equipment, rock climbing wall in our gymnasium and a complete audio/visual renovation of our auditorium.

WE ARE NOW COLLECTING PRIZES AND WE NEED YOUR HELP.

DO YOU HAVE SOMETHING TO DONATE?

We also rely heavily on you to help us collect prizes. Here are some ways you can help:

START WITH YOUR EMPLOYER
In recent years Clinton parents have donated items such a Tiffany bracelet, Cirque de Soleil tickets, books, electronics, clothes and accessories. Some companies are willing to donate merchandise and others are prepared to offer a sizable discount. If this is the case, please let us know. In the past we have used a Clinton parent’s employee discount at Macy’s to purchase a slew of great prizes. Prizes in the electronics category are always a big hit, so if you have any connections in that area, please let us know. We have a letter than can be used to solicit donations. Let us know if you’d like a copy.

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT OR SKILL?
Turn it into a prize! Some ideas: If you’re an accomplished tennis player, offer a one-hour private lesson. If you can bake, a decorated birthday cake would be a fabulous prize, if you are a fabulous cook, you can prepare and deliver a meal for four.

DO YOU LIKE TO ENTERTAIN?
How about throwing a theme party? You pick the date, time, and theme, and we’ll auction off the invitations. Have you always wanted to host a Mystery Dinner? Mystery guests will make it all the more fun! Do you make a mean margarita? How about putting together a Cinco de Mayo party? The possibilities are endless for this prize—and oh so much fun!

THERE’S NO SHAME IN REGIFTING
Did your child receive two of the same Wii games for his birthday? Instead of letting one collect dust, donate it to the Tricky Tray. Did someone give you a gift card you’ll never use? Someone can use it.

WHO DO YOU KNOW?
An autographed script or backstage tour is always a popular prize. A few years ago Clinton parents starring in Broadway productions of Hair, Wicked, and The Little Mermaid offered backstage tours. A Sopranos script signed by all the featured actors brought in big bucks another year.

WEEKEND GETAWAYS
Do you have a time-share or vacation home that you can spare for a weekend? Is there a hotel you stay at frequently that might offer a sizable discount? Please let us know!

The possibilities are endless and no prize is too big or too small. Contact Cecelia Cancellaro by email or phone 973-763-1730 if you have a prize to donate or if you are willing to be a part of our Tricky Tray committee.

Items from our fall Cherrydale fundraiser will be delivered today, Monday, December 5. Amy Janay and Janet Trzaska will be at Clinton on Monday from 2:30-3 and again from 5-6 for parents to come and pick up their orders.

There are a lot of frozen food items so all orders must be picked up today.

Please contact Janet at meyers1113@aol.com if you have questions.

We have begun planning for our biggest fundraiser of the year: The Clinton PTA 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction.

This year our Tricky Tray will be held on Saturday evening, February 11th, at the hall in St. Joseph’s Church in Maplewood. Please mark your calendar and save the date. You won’t want to miss this incredibly fun event.

Last year we raised almost $26,000 at our Tricky Tray/Auction and this year, of course, we want to do even better! The money raised at this event each year has been responsible for major purchases including playground equipment, rock climbing wall in our gymnasium and a complete audio/visual renovation of our auditorium.

This event is a major undertaking and we are the only PTA in our area brave enough to host one every year but,

WE NEED YOUR HELP!
If you would like to volunteer to be a part of our committee, please contact Cecelia Cancellaro (ccancellaro@verizon.net) as soon as possible. We especially need help soliciting prizes, working a shift the night of the event, and being part of a clean-up committee. Contact Cecelia for more details.

We also rely heavily on you to help us collect prizes. Here are some ways you can help:

START WITH YOUR EMPLOYER
In recent years Clinton parents have donated items such a Tiffany bracelet, Cirque de Soleil tickets, books, electronics, clothes and accessories. Some companies are willing to donate merchandise and others are prepared to offer a sizable discount. If this is the case, please let us know. In the past we have used a Clinton parent’s employee discount at Macy’s to purchase a slew of great prizes. Prizes in the electronics category are always a big hit, so if you have any connections in that area, please let us know. We have a letter than can be used to solicit donations. Let us know if you’d like a copy.

DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT OR SKILL?
Turn it into a prize! Some ideas: If you’re an accomplished tennis player, offer a one-hour private lesson. If you can bake, a decorated birthday cake would be a fabulous prize, if you are a fabulous cook, you can prepare and deliver a meal for four.

DO YOU LIKE TO ENTERTAIN?
How about throwing a theme party? You pick the date, time, and theme, and we’ll auction off the invitations. Have you always wanted to host a Mystery Dinner? Mystery guests will make it all the more fun! Do you make a mean margarita? How about putting together a Cinco de Mayo party? The possibilities are endless for this prize—and oh so much fun!

THERE’S NO SHAME IN REGIFTING
Did your child receive two of the same Wii games for his birthday? Instead of letting one collect dust, donate it to the Tricky Tray. Did someone give you a gift card you’ll never use? Someone can use it.

WHO DO YOU KNOW?
An autographed script or backstage tour is always a popular prize. A few years ago Clinton parents starring in Broadway productions of Hair, Wicked, and The Little Mermaid offered backstage tours. A Sopranos script signed by all the featured actors brought in big bucks another year.

WEEKEND GETAWAYS
Do you have a time-share or vacation home that you can spare for a weekend? Is there a hotel you stay at frequently that might offer a sizable discount? Please let us know!

The possibilities are endless and no prize is too big or too small.

Contact Cecelia Cancellaro (ccancellaro@verizon.net/973-763-1730) if you have a prize to donate or if you are willing to be a part of our Tricky Tray committee.