The charity organization MVPSOS, Motivational Volunteers Promoting the Spirit of Sports (and Activities), held its annual dinner/auction/wine tasting in Steele Hall on the campus of Canterbury School. The event was held there in its first year, but since then, had been at the Arion Singing Society, which was able to accommodate more people. With the number of tickets sold rising every year, however, it became apparent that an even bigger venue would be needed. Since Steele Hall was recently remodeled and is now able to hold 400, MVPSOS this year returned the event to its first home.
MVPSOS started out as a charity organization dedicated to supporting the youth of New Milford through the funding of local sports. Many associate it with one of its first undertakings, saving three sports programs - golf, gymnastics and boys swimming - that were in danger of being cut from the New Milford High School budget. Since then, it's branched out, and has donated money to other youth programs, like the school band and art programs.
The dinner/auction/wine tasting is the group's biggest fund-raiser of the year, and this year, a record 380 tickets were sold. The demand for tickets just keeps going up, according to marketing director Lou Alhage.
"We sold out fairly quickly. We had to turn people down; we could have sold another 100 tickets," he said. "It's a big change from when nobody knew who we were and we were pushing tickets. It's become such an event that now, people are marking it down on their calendars and contacting us."
"This is the first year we had to turn people away. Our goal was 300, and we sold far more tickets than that," said MVPSOS board member Bob Greco. "We've always hit our quota, but now that's up 400 people. Steele Hall was a godsend. Canterbury really came to our rescue."
Greco is one of the group's original board members, along with Tim Jalbert, Kevin Dumas, Bill Knipple, and the late Bob Rasor.
The dinner is not the only thing that's grown. Interest in MVPSOS all-around has been steadily increasing.
"The more people know about us, the more they want to help, or to be involved," said Alhage. "And we've seen a big uptick this year in requests for funding. I owe that to both the economy, and to word getting out. Our goal is to be as efficient as possible with the money coming in."
The evening began with the wine tasting along with a silent auction, which was set up on tables in two rooms. Numerous local businesses donated items to be auctioned off. The dinner followed, and the night wrapped up with a live auction.
The event ran smoothly, and Alhage was pleased with the new accommodations. While the Arion Society did well in serving as the venue for four years, for the past three years it was held outside under a tent when the number of tickets sold became too much for the inside hall to hold. The tent presented its own problems, as rain two years ago and frigid temperatures last year made for less than ideal conditions.
"We were here the first year, but that was before the remodeling. People are wide-eyed when they come in," Alhage said. "It's like a homecoming for us."
"It's wonderful to see so many people come out every year. I'm always amazed," said Greco. "We get such a cross-section of the community."
And all those people have done a lot to come to the aid of local children through MVPSOS. Prior to the dinner, Dumas noted that the group has raised over $110,000 since its inception. Another big fund-raiser, the Bob Rasor Memorial Golf Tournament, was held for the fourth time this past summer, and it raised $8,000 this year, and $32,000 over the four years.
As for the annual dinner, it appears to be in very healthy shape, as well. Board member Tom Esposito said that there's already a waiting list for next year.
Further information on MVPSOS can be found on the group's Web site, www.mvpsos.com.