SEQUIM — One night as maestro or maestra of the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra; a handcrafted red cedar canoe; a week-long stay in New Orleans; a cruise to Alaska: They’re all part of the Symphony’s most important fundraiser of the year.
The Applause! Auction — set this year for 6 p.m. Saturday, March 24, at The Cedars at Dungeness, 1965 Woodcock Road — provides key support for the orchestra’s season of concerts in Port Angeles and Sequim, and for its educational programs across the North Olympic Peninsula.
Tickets to the auction are $75 per person and include a multi-course dinner, appetizers, wine, dessert and coffee.
Camaraderie Cellars’ Rhapsody in Red wines, vinted especially for the Port Angeles Symphony, will be offered. The dinner choices are tri-tip steak, chicken piccata, a vegetarian option featuring a stuffed Portobello mushroom or a seafood duet of baked cod and shrimp in beurre blanc.
For reservations, contact the Port Angeles Symphony at 360-457-5579 or PA Symphony@olypen.com.
The Applause! Auction has sold out each year for the past several, and because it is capped at 80 guests this year, patrons are encouraged to reserve their seats soon.
The nonprofit Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, now in the midst of its 85th season, has gathered a variety of items — 100 for the silent auction and 22 for the live bidding — from supporters around the country.
A 15-foot canoe, which local boat builder Bill Kindler made from Olympic Peninsula woods, has a fiberglass hull and two hand-caned seats. It’s one of the more unusual items this year.
A traditional Applause! Auction item: the chance to conduct the orchestra in its fall Pops & Picnic concert. Jonathan Pasternack, the Port Angeles Symphony’s regular conductor and music director, will offer the winning bidder tips and training.
Other highlights of the bidding, to be led by Seattle auctioneer Dennis Caldirola:
• A week in New Orleans with a suite at the Quarter House on Rue Chartres in the French Quarter and dining at three of the Crescent City’s best-known restaurants: the Commander’s Palace, Galatoire’s and Antoine’s.
• A seven-day Holland America cruise for two to the destination of their choice: Alaska, the Caribbean, Mexico or New England and Canada.
• A Rite Bros. Aviation of Port Angeles scenic flight over the Pacific Northwest for up to three people.
• A getaway to the Oregon wine country with lodging for four plus food and falconry — trained falcons — at Ken Wright Cellars’ Tanager Vineyards.
• Other dinners, experiences and specialized services include Dr. Dick VanCalCar’s wine and cheese tour — and his yard pruning package.
• Especially for the auction, Symphony board president Marie Meyers has booked a studio apartment at the Wyndham Vacation Resorts Royal Garden at Waikiki, Hawaii, for Dec. 15-22.
