Every other year the Cold Spring community comes together to throw a party with a purpose: a benefit auction to help underwrite the school’s generous tuition assistance program. This year we are also celebrating Cold Spring’s 30th birthday! So grab your party hat and your jodhpurs and join us at the Carousel at Lighthouse Point. Bring your friends, your appetite, and your good will. 

To whet your appetite for the big night and get you thinking about the selection of Live Auction items you can’t live without, we’re giving you a peak below. Click here for a preview of Silent Auction items.

Beer of the month by our own brewmaster extraordinaire Pete White. Pete has served up the suds at many CSS functions and now generously offers a six-pack a month of twelve different brews. The lucky winner will take home the first six-pack on Auction night. Think Father’s Day.

Gerry McGuffin, the queen of CSS fitness, will provide outdoor games and activities for a birthday party, picnic or other special event for your child and up to 19 guests. And, wait, this gets even better! The package includes two dozen scrumptious cupcakes baked and decorated by sixth-grade associate teacher Toni Storlazzi. Wow, oh, wow—let the bidding wars begin!

Who couldn’t use a relaxing weekend in Stonington, Connecticut? Ellen and Andy Wormser, alumni parents, are once again generously offering their cottage in this charming and historic seaside village. Stroll the cobblestone streets, browse the antiques shops and then use the $100 gift certificate included in this package to dine at Noah’s, a favorite local eatery. September through May.

Does your child have superior leadership qualities? Sterling moral character? A benevolent spirit? Managerial aspirations? Let your child be Director for a Day! He or she can run School Meeting and make birthday announcements, assign extra outside time, cancel homework, or have a fire drill. The Director for a Day will have a small budget to work with and authorization to order items for classroom or school use!

Firehouse birthday party or tour led by Captain Carbone, father of Olivia and Mallory. Give your child and up to eleven friends the chance to raise the fire truck ladder, try on a pair of firefighter’s boots, and sound the siren! Five-alarm snacks included. Saturday or Sunday 10:30–11:45 a.m.

Enjoy the restful surroundings of the Deakin clan’s newly constructed vacation home on Little Lake Sunapee in New London, New Hampshire. Plan a hike in the White Mountains, ski the nearby slopes or just curl up with a favorite book and take a nap when the urge beckons. The five-bedroom cottage sleeps eight to ten and can be yours for three nights between September 25 and May 10. Dates, exclusive of school holidays, to be arranged with Jennifer and Mike Deakin.

Enjoy a guided tour of the new Islamic Galleries at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art with Kishwar Rizvi, professor of Islamic art and architecture at Yale and CSS parent (Reza, class of 2011 and Yasmin Bergemann). Kishwar will tailor the hour-long tour to your interests, be they textiles, art and ceramics, art of the Silk Route, mosque architecture or something else. The tour, with accompanying picnic in Central Park, can accommodate up to ten of your art-loving relatives and friends—perfect for adults and children over age seven. Tour to be arranged on a mutually agreeable weekend.

Every back yard needs a picnic table, so now’s your chance to own a one-of-a-kind design built by the CSS class of 2012.  An example of Cold Spring collaboration at its best. Delivery within a 50-mile radius included.

Second honeymoon? Or take the kids, and even the dog! Either way, you’ll make fond memories on your weekend at the luxurious Equinox Resort and Spa in Manchester Village, Vermont. Enjoy the spa, ski nearby, take a hike or read that book you’ve been meaning to for way too long. Offer, available year–round, to be coordinated with the donor. 

Do you know how much water is in a cubic mile of fog? You might if you are the lucky winner of Trivia Night, sponsored by Aisling Colón and Jonathan Holloway at Yale’s Calhoun College. Beer, wine, snacks and fun prizes for you and up to fifteen of your friends. Date to be arranged with Aisling and Jonathan.

Looking for an original idea for a birthday party? Katalina’s Bakery on Whitney Avenue invites up to ten children to partake in a mini baking lesson in its professional kitchen. Each child will take home (or consume!) a cupcake creation. Yum.

A chance to participate in the annual 4/5 class egg drop! Design your own egg-protecting contraption and join the students in throwing it from the fourth-story window. Included: the roar of crowd and keepsake photos.

Summer is right around the corner, and there’s no better place to enjoy it than on the deck of a sailboat. Cold Spring alumni parents Dan and Gretchen Biemesderfer are your captain and crew aboard their forty-three-foot sloop Shearwater for a cruise around the Thimble Islands and Faulkner’s Island. Dan and Gretchen will host a party for six (children and adults). Depart from the dock at the Guilford Yacht Club for a memorable time on the sea. Food and drinks included. Don’t forget the sunscreen!

Many hands working together created a one-of-a-kind floor cloth that you’ll want for your home or vacation cottage. The cloth is made up of thirty squares of flowers painted by thirty students for our thirtieth! Happy birthday to us!

One week soaking up the sun and strolling the beaches at the Bay Resort Condominiums in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Get away from it all at a four-bedroom, five-bath condo in Stowe, Vermont, for four days this summer.

Silver clay workshop for three adults led by Amity Doolittle in her Everit Street studio. Amity will provide instruction, tools, materials and a kiln for your original pure silver creation. The capstone to your experience will be a fabulous celebratory meal with Amity at the end of the day.

Questions? Like to help out? Contact any of your friends on Auction Committee 2012!

Cheryl Andresen, Stephanie Carbone, Aisling Colón, Paula Coyne, Gina D'Errico, Heidi Downey, Wendy Garcia, Shel Swanson