School Auction - There is still money in this city

Last week, I attended my daughter's school auction held at the Players in Gramercy Park.

This was my first school auction and I was really impressed by the venue as well as the selection of auction items in the catalog. This is a public school after all and no celebrity parents.

There were a wide range of Silent auction items that included the requisite class projects, cooking classes, vacation packages (e.g. Antigua), restaurant certificates, museum memberships, kids classes and various services (e.g. gym memberships, spas, yoga, pilates).

For the main event which was the most fun, live vicariouly through another moment was the live auction.

Regardless of the recession and the number of jobs lost in New York, there is still plenty of money in this town. Of course, you could look at it another way is that most of the people in the room used to pay $20,000-25,000 a year in pre-school costs so what's a few thousand to support the school.

The most prized live auction items included 4 Yankees vs Red Sox tickets (value $600), prime seats for U2 at Giants Stadium (Value $500), City Winery Dinner package for 10 (value $4,000) and Principal for a day (value priceless).

So what were the winning bids?
Yankees tickets - $2,200
U2 tickets - $1,200
City Winery - $2,000
But the grand winner was principal for a day which went for $3,500. The principal added an extra day since there were 2 families bidding for the opportunity to have their child be the acting principal. Smart move.

So what did I end up with through the silent auction. Yes, I know it's crazy that I actually bid on anything, given my circumstance. I won the services of an interior designer, someone to organize my photos and 2 manicure/pedicures at a cooler nail salon than my lower east side dive.

But the piece de resistance and the best $5.00 I ever spent was raffle tickets for an outing with my daughter's teachers. That truly is priceless and something she will always remember.