Seth Boyden Elementary School will throw its biggest fundraising party of the year on Saturday, February 11 at the Woodland in Maplewood. This year, the theme will be a celebration of the first full moon of the Chinese New Year, which will happen the same night.
The benefit, “Full Moon Rising: A Lunar New Year Celebration,” will be the school’s fourth annual Silent Auction fundraiser. Popular Parsippany restaurant Qin Dynasty will provide Chinese cuisine. DJ Jen Jones, a Seth Boyden parent who has spun at clubs in Manhattan, Brooklyn, and London, will serve up a mix of soul, funk, rocksteady, indie rock, dance, and hip-hop. Tickets to the benefit will include a drink voucher for the bar.
The Silent Auction and raffle will offer generous gift baskets and gift cards from local shops and businesses as well as many experience packages, including tickets to “Watch What Happens Live” with Andy Cohen; a week of family dinners cooked to order by a professional chef; a private tour of the Greek and Roman galleries in the Metropolitan Museum of Art; tickets to a Red Bulls home game; a session with a professional photographer; tickets to “Million Dollar Quartet” at the Papermill Playhouse; and a night at the famous Woodloch Resort in the Poconos.
This year, the PTA will introduce a new tradition of honoring individuals who have made especially meaningful contributions to Seth Boyden and to the broader Maplewood-South Orange community. The inaugural honoree will be the late Joanne Jacques-Montilus, who was a beloved teacher at Seth Boyden for seven years. Her husband, Pascal Montilus, will accept the honor in her memory.
The rooster in the “Full Moon Rising” logo identifies 2017 as the Year of the Rooster in the Chinese calendar. Chinese New Year festivities traditionally last fifteen days, explains party co-organizer and Seth Boyden parent Sonya Sio Weng Artis. The celebrations culminate in the Lantern Festival on the first full moon of the first Chinese lunar month, this year on February 11. Like the festival, the Seth Boyden fundraiser will “pay respect to the coming year with our family, friends and neighbors,” says Artis. “I hope everyone can come out to celebrate with us to benefit the children of Seth Boyden.”
Tickets for the party are available by clicking here or at the door. Individual tickets are $40 per person, which includes a drink voucher. Tables for 8 with their own specialty cocktails will be $500, but most are already reserved, so book quickly! For more information, email sethboydenauction@gmail.com.
