Starry Night: early reporting

Thank you to everyone who attended, donated time or money, or otherwise contributed to Portland Village School's spring fundraiser, “Starry Night”! 

We had a great time Saturday night.  The decoration team transformed the basketball gym into a gracefully canopied space crowned by our old – but newly-bejeweled! – giant turnip.  Many attendees went all-out on their outfits, and there was a flash mob "Walk Like an Egyptian" that will be talked about for ages!

Our initial receipts are looking very solid, which is great news.

For additional practical or ongoing information (lost and found, dress exchange): pvsprom2013.blogspot.com

Thank you!

Your Prom Team Co-Chairs,

Kirsten Rayhawk and Kimmy Scarpine

(this notice was also published in the Portland Village School Weekly Digest of May 20, 2013)

Closing business: dress exchange dresses

To the women who have borrowed dresses from the dress exchange ("borrowed," meaning, there was a name on the dress, which means the owner wanted it returned): please make sure you have the dress cleaned and ready to return by next Friday (May 31).  Unless you have heard otherwise from the owner, please have the dress professionally dry-cleaned.

You can either contact the owner using your school directory and return the dress directly to her, or bring the dress to the scrip table and Carie Folz will make sure it gets home :).

The felted corsage flowers

We have already sold about half of these beautiful creations, but for those of you who haven't had a chance to stop by the prom table and see them, this is what the "Felted corsages" listed on the Starry Night buy-page look(ed) like:

Thank you again to Vicky Medley for bringing the Waldorf-wool / Portland-crafting / re-usable ethic so gorgeously to the prom theme!

Stop by the prom table, before or after school, to pick one up ... only $15 for instant, touchable, reusable gratification!  These can be attached to an elastic wristband, a barrette, or a pin :).

UPDATE 5/8: Vicky made and brought in several more -- if you didn't see your favorites earlier this week, come look at our colors again :)!

Raffles raffles raffles :)!

Alright!  In a short timeframe we got some awesome stuff donated!  Thank you to the community members and businesses who stepped up to support Portland Village School!

We have several fun raffles--most will be drawn next Friday, May 10, at 3:20pm (in front of the school), so the winners can use them to amp up their prom night.  Some larger, non-prom-theme prizes will be awarded at the event itself, on May 18, between 7 and 10pm.  You do not need to be present to win, in either case -- we will contact the winners!

( ... Drum roll please .... )

And here they are!

DINING GIFT CERTIFICATES

(pale orange tickets)

Several restaurants have donated gift certificates to PVS, and a few more might still be incoming, so keep an eye on this blog or our display at school!  We will draw for winners in the order of this list; if you are present at the drawing at 3:20pm Friday, May 10, you can choose to trade once, but only for the next item down -- and no take-backs ;).

• Tasty n Sons (N Williams Ave), $20
• Cacao (two downtown locations), 1st gift certificate: two flights of their three drinking chocolates
• Lompoc Pubs and Brewery (four locations), $30 (correction 5/6, but your chance of winning was not affected -- Lompoc donated a keg for the event instead :)! )
• Toro Bravo (120 NE Russell St), $20
• Cacao (two downtown locations), 2nd gift certificate: two flights of their three drinking chocolates
• we have at least three additional dining gift certificates expected by the end of the week ... but we can't announce them here until they are confirmed!
• ADDED 5/8: red e cafe (N Killingsworth), $20
• ADDED 5/9: The Mississippi Pizza Pub (N Mississippi Ave), $20

Drawing Friday, May 10, at 3:20, at PVS.  Chances of winning this raffle are 1:25 or better (depending on ticket sales).

DR MARTEN'S GIFT CERTIFICATE

(dark green tickets)

If you want your prom getup to show what a Very Portland Prom "Starry Night" can be ... 

Buy a chance to win a gift certificate for a new pair of shoes or boots, value up to $150, at the downtown store!

Drawing Friday, May 10, at 3:20, at PVS.  Chances of winning this raffle are 1:50 or better (depending on ticket sales).

DRESS ALTERATION GIFT CERTIFICATE

(pale green tickets)

One of PVS' professional seamstress/tailors, Irene Veldstra, has offered to alter a dress for prom -- be sure to call her ASAP if you win, because she'd like to have enough time before "Starry Night" to do your dress right!

Drawing Friday, May 10, at 3:20, at PVS.  Chances of winning this raffle are 1:25 or better (depending on ticket sales).

WOMAN'S UPDO APPOINTMENTS

(fuschia tickets)

Gift certificates from local hairstylists for specific appointments the afternoon of May 18, to get your hair professionally styled for prom night!  These appointment times are not negotiable -- the stylists have reserved them especially to give prom-goers time for catching dinner before the event :)!

• 3:30pm, with Catherine J Schmitz at the Chameleon Salon and Day Spa (N Lombard)
• 4:30pm, with Caitlin Lindgren at The Parlour St. Johns (in St. Johns)

Drawing Friday, May 10, at 3:20, at PVS.  Chances of winning this raffle are 1:25 or better (depending on ticket sales).

HAIR SERVICES GIFT CERTIFICATE

(red tickets)

A $55 gift certificate for hair services (men or women) with Jessica Radke at Studio Luxe (NW 13th Ave).

Drawing Friday, May 10, at 3:20, at PVS.  Chances of winning this raffle are 1:25 or better (depending on ticket sales).

MASSAGE GIFT CERTIFICATES

(sea blue tickets)

Do you need some extra relaxation before prom, or maybe you expect to need some recovery-time afterwards ;)?  Buy one of these tickets for a chance to win a one-hour massage!

Right now we have two gift certificates donated, each for a one-hour, deep-tissue massage by Jane Graybill, LMT (office in N Portland).  ADDED 5/7: An Aroma Touch Massage has been donated by Tracey Schmidt.

Drawing Friday, May 10, at 3:20, at PVS.  Chances of winning this raffle are 1:25 or better (depending on ticket sales).

PORTRAIT SESSION AND PRINTS GIFT CERTIFICATE

(yellow tickets)

Professional PVS photographer Amy McMullen has donated a gift certificate for a portrait session and $100 of print-credit.

This is a great prize for everyone, whether you are going to "Starry Night" or not, and might be especially fun for grandparents to buy chances on so they get a set of grandkid portraits!  Online purchasing means buyers don't even have to be local :).

Drawing Friday, May 10, at 3:20, at PVS.  Chances of winning this raffle are 1:25 or better (depending on ticket sales).

$100 TATTOO CREDIT GIFT CERTIFICATE

(neon red tickets)

Mare Jordan at The Parlour St. John's has offered PVS raffle-buyers a chance to win a $100 towards a tattoo -- you know you've been thinking about one ;).  Win this and you are on your way!

The drawing for this certificate will be AT "STARRY NIGHT," Saturday, May 18, between 7 and 10pm.

AND A FEW MORE PENDING, SOME LARGE, SOME SMALL

(Keep an eye on this blog and our display table at school :)! )

To BUY YOUR TICKETS (to the event and/or your raffle tickets),

CLICK HERE!

Project Prom Dress exchange: bring 'em tomorrow!

If you didn't get your loaner dresses to school by 3:00 today, you can bring them straight to Angela's house after 10am tomorrow (Saturday, April 27): info here :)!

Project Prom Dress exchange is Saturday!

If you have dresses to lend/donate, please get them in BY FRIDAY at pickup!  The green plastic bins are in the main entrance at each building.

If you are seeking a dress, the exchange will be from 1-4pm THIS SATURDAY (April 27)!

For complete information, click here: dress exchange basic info.

Dressing up for "Starry Night"

The official word on the dress code for "Starry Night":

What we really want is for people show up and have a good time :).

Many of us are excited about prom'ing it up; others, not so much.  The prom theme is about having fun and enjoying our community.  We encourage each person to dress as much to the theme as they are comfortable doing--and we look forward to seeing what that means!

*     *     *

As the person recognized for my Fundraising Fairy getups each year, it's no surprise that I'm probably coming in something with sequins, lame', or glitter -- although there is a slightly more refined velvet dress calling my name, so we'll see ;).

I've talked to people who are writing home to see if their parents can locate and send their old formalwear in time for alterations.  Some people have tuxedos or beaded dresses in their closets, some people have cocktail dresses or suits--but this is Portland, and let's admit it, we are always party-impressed if someone wears a snazzy pair of jeans, polished-up shoes, and an attractive shirt!

If you want to really impress, you can *iron* your jeans ;).  (I have an iron you can borrow--I finally bought one last year, so I could make tidy curtains for the first grade classroom door ;). )

When I was in high school, I know there were always a couple of Scottish-pride kilts at all formal events ...

... usually one or two dedicated goths wore their awesomest ensembles (side note: in Portland in the 90s, goths could wear non-boot footwear ... I recently learned combat boots were de-rigeur in the rest of the country ... see, here in Portland, everyone always wears chunky shoes, and plenty of people in the suburbs still hunted, so it wasn't at all countercultural to wear combat boots ;) ... local goths were fairly early adopters of witch-point shoes, though, which leave really funny footprints on the Oregon beaches when walking next to their Birkenstock-n-sock buddies ;) ) ...

... in the later 90s I remember seeing cargo pants with tuxedo tops ...

... at the April 11 board meeting, one of your PVS board members described wearing what must have been a fabulous outfit to his prom: a grey suit with top hat and gloves(!) ...

... a bow tie ...  ... big hair ...  ... a tulle underskirt ...  ... ruffles ...

... matching the mood of (or an actual outfit from!) your favorite high-school-dance movie ...

... there are lots of fun ways to give your nod to prom without ever going near a hot pink cinderella-style dress or a full formal tux :).

Ladies, don't forget to donate your extra dresses to and/or come look for dresses at the April 27 Project Prom Dress exchange!

-- Kirsten :)!

PS Feel free to leave further inspirational examples in the Comments, below :)!

Raffle items: the updated list

In this post I will update donations as I check them in, so you can see what's coming in (and maybe avoid hitting up retailers more than once on behalf of PVS :) ) ...

Basic prom-theme categories--ideally, we will have several donations within each category:

• a restaurant gift certificate: all kinds, but we especially encourage you to build a relationship between PVS and your favorite local restaurant (thank so far to: Toro Bravo, ¿Por Que No?, Tasty n Sons)
• dessert gift certificates (thanks so far to: Cacao)
• supplies for a romantic picnic basket
• a tuxedo rental
• a hairstyling appointment, afternoon or early evening May 18 (thanks so far to: Catherine J Schmitz Hair Design & Esthetics, Caitlin Lindgren at The Parlour St. Johns)
• a professional shave for a man, daytime May 18
• a dress alteration (thanks so far to: Irene Veldstra)
• a car wash, or car detailing (so far we have a Washman certificate)
• floral corsage + boutonniere, pickup May 18
• manicure and/or pedicure
• professional makeup application, early evening May 18
• massage gift certificate, to help a body relax before (or after!) the event (two so far: thank you, Jane Graybill)

Pie in the sky, especially this time of year, but wouldn't they be awesome:

• limo or towncar service for dinner and prom, 5pm - 11pm May 18
• fancy hotel room, night of May 18 ;)!!!

And we're receiving some exciting surprises :)! :

• for the dedicated or adventurous: tattoo gift certificate (thanks to Mare Jordan at The Parlour St. John's)
• gift certificate for one photography portrait session and prints credit (thanks to Amy McMullen Photography)
• a family weekend at PVS-beloved Geercrest Farm
• tickets to the Portland Revels
• a gift certificate for shoes (thank you to Dr. Martens)

Do you have any other ideas? Please leave them in the comments, below, or contact Kirsten Rayhawk, Raffle Captain (see contact info).

PVS Prom: Dress Exchange

Several moms have been talking about a PVS formal-dress exchange/borrow* for this event, and Carie Weisenbach-Folz (contact info) and Angela Bowden have generously stepped up to bring that together!

Welcome to Project Prom Dress :)!

Do you have formals you would like to donate, or let people borrow, for this event? dresses from high school? bridesmaids' dresses? cocktail dresses you don't plan to wear on May 18 yourself?  We especially seek larger or taller size dresses, which are harder to find at thrift shops.

If you have a dress to lend or donate:

• If you want the dress back (to lend instead of donating), please label it clearly, preferably on the tag.  
• In the front entryway of each building at school, you can find a green plastic box where you can leave your dress(es). Carie will be collecting them regularly.
• We will ask each dress recipient of a borrowed dress to return it, professionally dry-cleaned, within two weeks of the event (so, by Friday, May 30).  Please keep in mind that accidents do happen and we cannot guarantee the safety of any dress, but we are sure that each PVS person wearing a dress will be grateful and exercise reasonable prudence with their borrowed finery :).

If you would like to try on the donated/lent dresses:

• The Prom Dress Exchange will be held on Saturday, April 27, from 1-4pm at Angela's home.  Her address is 6014 N Haight Avenue: two houses north of Ainsworth Street, just west of Vancouver Avenue ... not too many blocks away from our event location :)!
• RSVP with Carie or Angela (see your PVS Directory, or via Carie's email, here).

* If there is anyone who is interested in running a similar effort for men's formalwear, please contact Kimmy or Kirsten (contact info)!

(EDITED 4/16: added corrected date!)