2005-06 Annual Report - Mercy High School

Omaha Catholic EducationMercy High Schoolcelebrated 50 years,50’s style at Fiesta2006. The annualfundraiser was held onFebruary 11 and raisedover $275,000 fornegotiated tuition. In honor of Mercy’s 50 years at 48 thand Woolworth streets, the Nifty Fifties-themedcelebration included student servers dressed in poodleskirts and bobby socks, vinyl 45-record centerpieces, doowopmusic and photo opportunities with a pink Cadillac.The evening began with Mass in Our Lady of Mercy Chapelcelebrated by Fr. Gilg, president of Skutt Catholic HighSchool and pastor of St. Mary Magdalene Parish. AfterMass, guests hadthe opportunity tosocialize, bid onsilent auctionitems and perusethe baskets.Before dinner,Student Councilpresident, MollyHuerter ’06, spokeabout the impactthat Fiesta andL to R: Ingrid Kalinowski Borghoff ’65,Gov. Dave Heineman, Sr. JohannaBurnell, RSMnegotiated tuitionhave on her familyand her education.The Mercy HighSingers then sang a medley of 50’s songs. Dinner, cateredby Hap Abraham, was served at 7 p.m. followed by the liveauction at 9 p.m. John Glenn, father of Amanda ’07,served as the emcee and John Temme as live auctioneer.Over 30 items were auctioned including a condo inFlorida, a package to the Missouri Valley Conferencebasketball tournament in St. Louis, a sheet of two dollarbills signed by Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, and aVolkswagen Beetle.Chairing the event were Walter and Sue Scott (honorarychairs) along with Mike and Gail Yanney, Maurice and JuneCox, Cathie and John Fullenkamp and Larry and ShirleyGood. Ted and Cindy Menzel, parents of Hannah ’06,served as general chairs. Various parent committeesspent months preparing for the night, making sure allaspects were covered from bank operations to silentauction solicitation. The silent auction items included giftcertificates, college gear apparel, and much more. Over130 baskets were donated by parents, alumnae, friendsof Mercy and local businesses. Gift boxes were also sold,with chances to win various First National Visa gift cards.The night concluded with the raffle drawings. The parentraffle winners were: third place, Greg and Lisa Hess($250 voucher for books), second place, Eric and AnnBruner (2006-07 fees) and Bob and Mary Gonderinger(one year tuition). JohnFahey was the lucky$10,000 grand prizeraffle winner.The Cor MisericordiaeAward, Latin for “Heartof Mercy,” is awardedeach year at Fiesta,recognizing andblessing a person whoespouses Mercy’smission of carefulinstruction of youngwomen. This personenables Mercy to serveour girls in the truespirit of Mercy. Thisyear, we honor RobertH. Matt. As aprominent, successful,independent businessowner, he is recognizedas a layman who is aL to R: Student servers ElizabethGarcia and Rosie Laughlinnational leader in the Church today. He was a foundingmember of the Archbishop’s Committee for EducationalDevelopment in the Archdiocese of Omaha as well as acommittee member of the United States CatholicConference.Bob is a staunch believer in Catholic education and hasbeen involved with Catholic ministries and Catholiceducation in the Omaha archdiocese. He has devotedmany years of service and volunteerism to Mercy HighSchool. He served on Mercy’s board of directors from1995-2004 and was a member of Mercy’s developmentcommittee. Bob was alsoa member of the steeringcommittee during each ofMercy’s three capitalcampaigns. His insight,knowledge and counselwere invaluable.Robert H. Matt15