Buy your school auction tickets now

Mia Newsom, a student at St. Raphael Catholic School, wanted everyone at 9:30 a.m. Mass Sunday to know that tickets were available for the school's annual auction coming up this Friday. Mia displayed a poster promoting the ticket sale.

The fundraiser, with the theme, Hot Havana Nights, will be at the Mirror Lake Lyceum in downtown St. Petersburg. Tickets are $55 each and include dinner, beer and wine.

There will be a Live Auction and a Silent Auction, with amazing prizes on which to bid.

Among the prizes in the Live Auction: Bid on a three-night getaway to Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island. You’ll have the use of a six-bedroom, 4.5-bath luxury home less than a block from the Gulf of Mexico. It’s just one of many unusual auction items at Hot Havana Nights. Check the Live Auction page for more details.

After dinner and the auctions, a live DJ will provide music for dancing the night away. Complimentary hand-rolled Cuban cigars will be offered as well. A full liquor cash bar will remain open with all proceeds going to SRCS.

Check the Hot Havana Nights Facebook event page to learn more.

Hot Havana Nights! It's getting close

Get your ticket orders in soon and join the other 190 families, teachers, and staff who are coming out for the St. Raphael Catholic School Annual Auction on Friday, February 25 at the Mirror Lake Lyceum in downtown St. Petersburg.

It will be a night of great food, incredible friends, endless fun, and phenomenal fund raising for our school.

Individual tickets are $55 each and includes dinner and beer and wine. Tickets will be available after 9:30 a.m. And 5:30 p.m. Masses this Sunday and February 20. You also can complete order forms and turn them in to the school office. You can download an order form at the Hot Havana Night Web site.

There will be a Live Auction and a Silent Auction, with amazing prizes on which to bid.

Among the prizes in the Live Auction: Bid on a three-night getaway to Holmes Beach on Anna Maria Island. You’ll have the use of a six-bedroom, 4.5-bath luxury home less than a block from the Gulf of Mexico. Click on the photo at right to enlarge it.

It’s just one of many unusual auction items at Hot Havana Nights. Check the Live Auction page for more details.

Among other things, the Silent Auction features a beautiful sterling silver beaded chain and pendant with the amazing "Crucifixion" artwork slide.

A full auction catalog will be published on the Hot Havana Nights Web site by next Wednesday. Check for details.

After dinner and the auctions, a live DJ will provide music for dancing the night away. Complimentary hand-rolled Cuban cigars will be offered as well. A full liquor cash bar will remain open with all proceeds going to SRCS.

There are only 11 $50 raffle tickets left. Win and you have your choice of any Live Auction item or $2,500 in cash! You need not be present to win! Only 100 tickets will be sold!

Check the Hot Havana Nights Facebook event page to learn more.

Lend your light for the school fundraiser

Do you have glass votive candle holders, vases or hurricane lamps you'd be willing to donate for just one evening?

St. Raphael Catholic School needs these items for its Hot Havana Nights fundraiser in February. If you're willing to help, please send an e-mail to Anne Smith at amariefleur@aol.com.

The gala event on Friday, February 25 will recreate the 1950s era of the Cuban capital's fabulous nightclubs and tropical splendor.

The event will be held at the restored 1926 Mirror Lake Lyceum in downtown St. Petersburg, courtesy of parishioners Cort and Sharon Taylor. The Mediterranean revival showplace features magnificent chandeliers, crystal and alabaster ornamentation and beautiful hardwood floors.

This is the school's largest fundraiser of the year. Individual tickets are $55 each, including dinner, beer and wine. A $130 Cuban Special package deal is available until January 28 and includes two tickets to the auction and a Poor Man's Raffle ticket.

The event has a Facebook event page and a Web site. Check each of them for more information about the fundraiser as it becomes available. The sites will be updated continually.
two tickets to the auction

School auction evokes old Cuban era

Once upon a time in the 1950s BC (Before Castro), Havana was home to fabulous nightclubs and tropical splendor. For those who missed that era, the St. Raphael Catholic School Annual Auction in February will recall those storied days of yesteryear.

Parishioners Cort and Sharon Taylor and their partners at the Mirror Lake Lyceum are making that elegantly restored 1926 setting available for this year's event on Friday, February 25. The Lyceum, with its hardwood floors, magnificent chandeliers and crystal and alabaster ornamentation, is a Mediterranean revival showplace.

It is an opportunity step back in time for a relaxing and fun-filled evening while helping St. Raphael Catholic School during its largest fundraiser. Individual tickets are $55 each and includes dinner and beer and wine. A Cuban Special package deal is offered for $130 and includes two tickets to the auction and a Poor Man's Raffle ticket. The Cuban Special is available until January 28.

The evening includes live and silent auctions. Among live auction items available so far are four tickets to the Florida Gators vs. Georgia Bulldogs game in October and a Pilot for a Day flight in a single-engine Piper Saratoga from Albert Whitted Airport.

Silent auction items include a tree climbing party using the kinds of harnesses and rope systems that explorers use to zip through the canopies of rain forests, and a BMW Toddler Racer II for toddlers up to 3 years of age.

The event has a Facebook event page and a Web site. Check each of them for more information about the fundraiser as it becomes available. The sites will be updated continually.

Organizers are still accepting donations of items for the auctions and event advertising and sponsorships. If you have an item for the auctions, please contact Jenn Taylor at jrtaylor24@gmail.com. If you would like help sponsor the event, please contact Heidi Sutton at hacsutton@gmail.com for more details.