Our thanks to The Daily Times and reporter Amy Beth Miller for this coverage of the Starlight Gala in support of Maryville City Schools.  The Maryville City Schools Foundation is a community-based 501(c)(3) organization chartered exclusively to support educational excellence and innovation for the students of Maryville City Schools.  MCSF provides educational programs, learning opportunities, and scholarships that directly benefit all Maryville City students. Our deepest gratitude to the MCS Foundation for their work and support throughout the year and congratulations on the great success of Starlight 2019.

 

Starlight Gala raises more than $158,000 for Maryville City Schools

With donations still coming in, the Maryville City Schools Foundation already has tallied $158,500 raised at Saturday’s 16th annual Starlight Gala, which honored four alumni.

Members of the Maryville High School drum line and cheerleaders from Maryville Junior High welcomed 335 attendees, guiding them through construction at the Airport Hilton to the event.

A bluegrass band from Coulter Grove Intermediate School greeted them inside, and during dinner members of the MHS orchestra provided the music.

Online bidding started Feb. 15 for silent auction items, and members of the National Honor Society and MHS DEBS, a service group, acted as bid assistants Saturday night. Online auction items ranged from shadowing the principal or school resource officer for the day to artwork, prime parking spots at the high school and a week-long vacation to Antigua.

Eight live auction packages sold during the dinner.

By the time auctioneer Terry Hudson called “Sold!” a Pickin’ and Grillin’ package, featuring a hog roast for 50 with drinks and music, brought in $9,000.

Four tickets to a Luke Bryan concert at Blackberry Farm, with dinner before, brought in $6,500.

Even the centerpieces — trays built by junior high shop and construction students, filled with succulents by Ginger’s Flowers — sold to raise money for the schools.

For the first time the gala featured a raffle, which brought in $5,000. The top prize was a “staycation” package for local attractions valued at $1,500, with three others receiving $100 gift cards.

Four honorees

The foundation announced the evening’s honorees in December.

Katie Shelgren Boggs, a member of the Class of 2011, accepted the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, which recognized her work empowering women to avoid exploitive situations.

In the year after they married, Boggs and her husband, Will, took a vision trip covering five continents and meeting with 150 anti-trafficking and anti-exploitive organizations before they founded the nonprofit Raising A Voice in Knoxville.

After Boggs receives her master’s degree in recreation and sports management in May from the University of Tennessee, they plan to begin a sports ministry in Kenya to provide a safe place for children.

The foundation awarded the Distinguished Service Award to William “Ed” Harmon, who has followed his retirement from a successful real estate career with a second act in community service and philanthropy.

Maryville High School, the Blount County Public Library, Pellissippi State Community College, the Maryville Municipal Building and other well-known local areas have benefited from his generosity, and Harmon already has made plans for the bulk of his estate to go to charities in Blount County.

Two members of the MHS Class of 1969 received Distinguished Alumni Awards, Kim Rickard Soltero and Sharon Hannum.

Soltero ran a successful training and consulting business before she and her husband sold everything to spend a decade sailing around the world. That led to their founding Global Marine Networks LLC, a mobile satellite and communications company that serves remote locations. They sold the company in 2017.

Hannum had a 30-year career at ALCOA Inc. before retiring in 2007, is devoted to her work at St. Paul A.M.E. Zion Church of Maryville and has received numerous local leadership and volunteer awards. Among her recent accomplishments is helping organize Blount County United and chairing a new task force on affordable housing.

When emcee Eric Rice asked Hannum when she sleeps, she told him between 1-5 a.m. When he asked what drives her to do all that she does, Hannum answered, “God, my family and my community.”

The total raised Saturday was at least $20,000 more than last year and compares with $23,000 raised the first year, when the gala was held at the high school.

“I’m amazed at how much we raised last evening,” foundation Executive Director Barbara Jenkins said Sunday. “I have the best board in Blount County.

Dawn Chodak chaired the gala committee this year, with Leah Flynn as co-chair.