Friends, Food and Fun.

Our 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction is only a week away!!! We have 250 guests on our list already and it promises to be a really fun evening. Emcee Derek Romanaux and DJ Jeremy Moss will set the pace and tone of the evening and the prizes this year are AWESOME!

During this week we will give you a sneak preview of the prizes, so you can come ready to bid that night. And remember, we only take cash and checks.

Today, we are going to give you a peek at the fabulous dinner parties that are being auctioned off. These are part of our live auction. Take a look below, check your calendar, and come ready to bid for a seat at one of these wonderful events. Read the opening paragraph for details on how to bid.

DINNER PARTIES
This year, once again, we will be auctioning off seats at sumptuous dinner parties hosted by Clinton parents. Here’s how it works: During the live auction, one of our emcees will announce each dinner party separately, the date it will take place, the number of seats available, and the opening bid per seat. If you’re interested in buying a seat, raise your program with your paddle number showing (it’s on the back of the program). If you are bidding for two seats, hold up two fingers. You can bid on a maximum of two seats per dinner. Example: Chinese dinner, 8 seats, $25 per seat. Maybe 30 people show their paddle number. At that point the emcee will raise the bid per seat to $30. This time only 15 people may show their paddle number. He will keep raising the bid until only 8 people are left. Those 8 people will each win a seat at the dinner. All guests must be at least 21 years old.

Dinner Party #1
A Traditional Korean Dinner on Saturday, April 28th at 6:30pm
Jung Lee Masters and Kathleen Hong invite you to sample some authentic Korean fare such as Bul Kalbi, Bul Go Gi, Taegi Kalbi Gui, Chapch’ae, Man Doo, and so much more! All will be deliciously home-made, including Mama Lee’s famous Kim Chee. Wash it all down with traditional rice wine, Mak Gul Re. 8 guests. Opening Bid: $25 per seat.

Dinner Party #2
A Fabulous Italian Feast on Saturday, April 14th at 6pm
Hosted by Jackie LaFalce Lahey and Scott Lahey, this authentic Old-World dinner will include an antipasto platter, lasagna, meatballs and sausage, and Italian pastries, with wines selected by professional wine expert, Scott, and will feature a menu based on Grandma’s mouthwatering recipes. Salud! 10 guests. Opening bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #3
Make Your Own Sushi on Saturday, April 21st at 7pm
Pass out the chopsticks and create some sushi magic at the home of Leah and David Gomberg. Rolling your own sushi is much more fun than heading out to a noisy restaurant and you don’t need a fancy sushi chef. Don’t be intimated–everyone can do it. Just think of sushi as the origami of good food. With just a few items, the Gombergs will show you how to transform your kitchen counter into a fabulous sushi bar and you’ll eat a delicious dinner in the process. 8 guests.
Opening Bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #4
The British are Coming, or at Least Hosting this Dinner, on Saturday, March 31st at 7pm
Jane Bleasdale and Ginny Reilly invite you to an evening of Anglo-Irish pub grub. Bangers and mash, toad in the hole, bread and butter pudding, fish and chips and warm beer! Enjoy some English humor mixed with Irish hospitality. 8 guests. Opening Bid: $25 per seat

Dinner Party #5
Oktoberfest, on Saturday, June 9th at 6 pm
Enjoy a true Oktoberfest dinner hosted by the Sailturi and Rios-Leto families. Succulent and slow cooked German short ribs with oatmeal stout macaroni and cheese. Traditional wurst accompanied by sweet Belgium fries. Dessert includes homemade Black Forest cake, which is light and delicious. The best part of the dinner will be the beer tasting with Rob Leto himself, part time microbrewer and fulltime beer consumptionist. A variety of beers will be presented, including a home brew. 8 guests. Opening Bid: $25 per seat

Don’t miss this wonderful exhibit on Sunday, February 5th. The Community Building Project is the result of a collaboration between five local architects and students in five elementary school in South Orange Maplewood who took their After School Enrichment architecture class. The Clinton architect is Jung Lee Masters, former PTA President. The students’ work is impressive so check it out on Sunday.

Click the flyer for more details.

Take-Home Math: Helping Your Child Succeed in Mathematics

The SOMSD Mathematics Department and The Parenting Center’s LEAP TO SUCCESS Committee present “Take-Home Math” – Helping Your Child Succeed in Mathematics.

Help your child experience the fun and joy of Math while building important skills! Join Math Specialist Katie Costello for a workshop on:

• Curriculum – What are student learning in the classroom?
• Games, activities and strategies for parents and students to use at home.

Grades K-­‐2 ~ Tues., Jan. 31, 2012 from 7:30pm to 9:00pm
Clinton School
27 Berkshire Road, Maplewood

Grades 3-­‐5 ~ Tues., Feb. 28, 2012 from 7:30pm to 9:00pm
Seth Boyden School
274 Boyden Ave., Maplewood

Flyer with complete details here.

The 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction is right around the corner. We are busy wrapping and cataloging prizes and need all prizes in by the end of this week in order to get them in the program. You can contact Cecelia to arrange drop-off or pick-up and you can even leave the prizes with Ms. Budhu or Ms. Robinson in the main office who will keep them safely. We will be checking in with them every other day.

We have awesome prizes and we will soon start to send some sneak preview emails featuring some of our amazing silent auction and live auction prizes (which include tickets to both The Letterman Show and The Daily Show and an awesome Pig Roast for you and all you friends). We will also give you a sneak preview of the great dinners that will be auctioned off with instructions about how that part of the evening works.

If you haven’t made your reservation yet, you can find the form here.

And remember, if you have a party of ten we will reserve a table.

We are looking forward to a fun and successful evening! Clinton is the only elementary school that has an auction every single year (we are over-achievers), and each year it gets better and better.

Please join us at Clinton on Thursday night, January 26 at 6:30 for our always-popular storytelling night. Teachers, parents, and special guests will be here to share favorite stories with us. We’ll all start off in the auditorium at 6:30 with a special guest, Ivory Coast storyteller and drummer YaYa Kamate. Check him out at http://www.alvinailey.org/yahya-kamate.

After YaYa’s performance, K-2 students and their families are invited to stay in the auditorium for stories shared by teachers and parents in some of the languages we speak at Clinton –  English, Spanish, Haitian Creole and Japanese.

Grade 3-5 students are welcome to stay for those stories if they wish, but upstairs in the library, Mrs. Latimer and some parents and teachers will be helping students in grades 3-5 be their own storytellers with a superhero storytelling activity! We know you are already familiar with Batman, the Green Lantern, and SpiderGirl! But do you know about the Flying Ghost, Red Lizard or Secret Shark? This event is sure to be fun and creative for parent and students!

See you next Thursday at 6:30! Wear pajamas if you wish… after all, it’s story time!

We are entering the home stretch. The 9th Annual Tricky Tray and Auction is less than one month away.

If you have prizes to deliver, please contact Cecelia.

Don’t forget to send in your reservation form to reserve a spot. Forms went home in backpacks this week and can also be found on our website.

ALSO, PLEASE CONSIDERING HOSTING ONE OF THE WONDERFUL DINNERS WE AUCTION OFF AT TRICKY TRAY. SEE DETAILS BELOW:

These dinners raise a good deal of money for Clinton School and they are always incredibly fun and a great way to get to know other Clinton families.

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 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