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Todd Shelton | 9/23/2003 The hottest ticket in Tampa, this summer got you into the Super Bowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers home turf for the Sixth Annual KAOEF Bid for Brotherhood, held during the Seventieth KA Convention. The event conducted by the Kappa Alpha Order Educational Foundation took place on Friday, August 8, 2003, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Fla.
The evening kicked off with the gourmet cuisine of choice at any stadium, burgers and ‘dogs. Area alumni, KA volunteer leaders and undergraduates from across the country wasted no time digging into the dinner and mingling amongst each other. Meanwhile, true to the goal of the evening, members of the national staff were hard at work shaking down everyone in attendance in a variety of fun filled activities.
A number of raffles were held while a silent auction was taking place. The raffle no one wanted to be left out of was for a Gateway 42” plasma television. Tickets were sold throughout the week and the tv went home from the stadium with the winning ticket holder.
The t-shirt raffle was popular early in the evening giving someone the chance to win a charter membership in The Loyal Order while the losers at least got a cool t-shirt. Also, a pyramid raffle was held with over 40 different donated items and trips being won throughout the evening.
The silent auction had one of the most extensive list of items for bidding since the founding of the event five years ago. Framed prints and signed first edition books of Marshall and Lee were available, as well as bronze sculptures and antique steel engravings. There was a weekend getaway to South Carolina and numerous signed sports memorabilia.
The ladies present certainly had a chance to make out well. There was a gorgeous pearl necklace, a Kate Spade purse and beautiful china up for bid.
The most exciting items in the silent auction were authentic Knights Templar swords and helmets courtesy of Dana Groff, a Tampa alumnus, and Dunwoody Province Commander Jack Carter. After the mad dash for bidding was over, the silent auction was a tremendous success and had set the stage for the evening’s main event: the live auction.
Many in attendance felt that this year’s auction items were some of the best ever. Numerous trips to destinations such as Maui, Hilton Head, Vail, Puerto Vallarta (Mexico) and a week in the south of France were some of the highlights from the live auction. In addition, golfing trips like a weekend to Pinehurst with two former Knight Commanders and a Lake of the Ozarks golfing package in Missouri were big hits.
The hunters in the crowd loved to see a South Georgia plantation quail hunt and a Southwest Louisiana duck hunt up for grabs. The racing enthusiasts jumped at the chance to purchase a weekend race package to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A bidding battle occurred when authentic cases of specially labeled KA bourbon were on the auction block. When the gavel dropped, the cases raised over $2,500.
Additional hot items were diamond tennis bracelets, a hand crafted humidor, a hand made KA t-shirt quilt and a wonderful bronze sculpture. A special item up for bid was naming rights for the permanent display case of Robert E. Lee memorabilia in the KA national headquarters.
Not only was this year’s event fun, but it was a tremendous success, as well. When the food was gone, all the items sold, and the many guests in attendance were filtering out, the final stage of the event began: tallying the proceeds. Ultimately, the KAOEF was able to raise $45,606. This brings the total raised for the endowment fund to $150,300.
More hard work and dedication was put into this year’s event than ever before by the KAOEF, National volunteers and National Administrative Office staff members and it was very evident when all dollars raised were counted and totaled for the final time.
The Sixth Annual Bid for Brotherhood could not have been possible without the many volunteers and staff who put the event together, including the generous support of local Tampa area alumni.
Taking the lead early on, James L. Ferman, Jr. (Epsilon ‘62) created the James L. Ferman, Sr. Memorial Challenge, through the KAOEF, to help raise funds for the Bid for Brotherhood event. Graciously, the Tampa area alumni met Brother Ferman’s challenge raising $17,500.
The KAOEF would also like to thank all the Kappa Alphas and friends of KA who purchased items during the event. Their support helped make this the most successful Bid for Brotherhood to date.
Everyone is invited to make plans now to attend the Seventh Annual Bid for Brotherhood next summer in Austin, Texas. With your help, the KAOEF will continue to raise funds for the support of Kappa Alpha Order.
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