Namaste Posted February 7, 2002 Posted February 7, 2002 Join a Great Mardi Gras Party Saturday Feb. 9th. Come join great friends in the celebration while helping to support building at least two schools in Nepal! RSVP: www.roomtoread.org/mardigras.html The theme is “Bourbon Street.” Admission includes Free Beer and Wine and Cajun-Dancing with lively local band “How’s Bayou” with dance lessons to get you started. We have lots of Free Beads and some Amazing Auction Items and Find out your Fortune for 2002. DRESS UP IN YOUR WILDEST ATTIRE and head to the FUNC. Fremont’s UNConventional Centre – 160 N. Canal Street (old Redhook Building). MAP. 8pm Doors open9pm Cajun dancing lesson9:30pm Live band “How’s Bayou”10pm Auction for some very Cool Stuff (read below) 10:30pm More Live Band “How’s Bayou”2am Dancing into the Streets RSVP by Friday at www.roomtoread.org/mardigras.html to be ensured admission (300max) and to receive an admission discount. Cost – $30 w/RSVP, $35 at door w/out RSVP. Admission is by cash only, but please bring your checkbook or credit card for the silent and live auctions. AUCTION ITEMS: Ultimate San Francisco Weekend: Flights for four to San Francisco, you’ll be met at the airport in a Rolls Royce and taken for to Napa Valley with personalized winery tour/tasting; followed by a gourmet dinner in San Francisco. Plus there’s a bicycle tour including trip across Golden Gate Bridge and more… A McHale Custom-Fit Alpine Pack Gift Certificate valued at $439. With the certificate, you can get a SARC pack, or apply it towards many other great packs. Check them out: http://www.mchalepacks.com/packs/index.htm. Moonstone 0-degree Sleeping Bag from Second Ascent worth $300: Visit their new digs in Ballard at 5209 Ballard Ave. NW. Karhu Tele Skis and New Releasable Bindings worth $600+. Check out skis at http://www.karhu.com/index2.shtml. Guided trip for Four up Mt. Shasta led by Alison Levine, a team member of the first all-women’s team to attempt Mt. Everest in the Spring of 2002. Fantastic Clock designed by local artist worth $350. Sailing Day Trip on Igniter – a Ranger29 – w/Gourmet lunch. Sunset Hot Air Balloon Ride for two by Aerial Hot Air Balloon Company: Sunset flight includes champagne and champagne buffet http://www.airialballoon.com/ XBox with 8 Games Bucket O’ Wine: Favorite selections from the Seattle Room to Read fundraising committee. OTHER: Vertical World Rock Climbing Lessons Guided Tour up Mt. Baker Personal Skiing Lessons Personal Care Gift Baskets Microsoft Windows XP Massage Sessions Hypnotherapy Session Nanny Service Dinner/Theatre Packages EMP Tickets Not Sure What to Wear? Mardi Gras History: Costumes are an integral part of Mardi Gras – from feathered masks to detailed Louis XVI costumes, hand-made Mardi Gras Indian feathered suits, or a grown baby on flaming rollerskates. At Mardi Gras, it takes all kinds! Mardi Gras costuming has been happening the same time every year in festivals dating back to pre-Christian Rome. Costuming and "masking" are especially important for the riders on floats in the parades. Costumes were once intended to keep the identities of members of a krewe secret. This purpose continues today, especially in the older krewes, where a member risks his membership in the krewe if he takes off his mask during the parade. Mardi Gras participants wear elaborate costumes as a fine art, rather than as disguise. For this New Orleans tradition, costumers design and hand-make elaborate, brightly colored, one-of-a-kind suits. The intricate beading, sequins, and feathers are worn on Mardi Gras Day and again on the Sunday closest to St. Joseph's Day. In the past, these marches were highly competitive, with rival tribes meeting and often fighting in the street. Today when two tribes meet, it's to compare the quality of each other's suits. What’s It All For? Sure, it’s a party… but it’s so much more then that. Having you at this party will make a HUGE difference in the lives of Nepalese children. We recently were given a grant to double all money raised at the party – so your $1,000 donation could mean $2,000 for Room to Read. And then, when we apply it to our Nepal challenge grants for schools, it doubles again – meaning a $4,000 donation: enough to build half of an entire school! How Seattle supports Room to Read (formerly Books for Nepal) Last year, children in two Nepalese villages were able to get a better education in better classrooms with Seattle’s help. With only $8,000 from Seattle residents and matching Nepal funds, Room to Read built The Shree Tinkanya Primary School in Benighat, Dhading and the 8-room, 2-story Kavreshali School in Katmandu Valley. Seattle residents in the last two years also raised enough to build 6 additional schools and ship 27,000 children’s books to Nepal. At the Mardi Gras party, we hope to raise funds to build at least two more Seattle schools and support an educational video on Nepalese education. Room to Read Information Room to Read seeks to provide under-privileged children with an opportunity to gain the lifelong gift of education. They do this by partnering with local villages to build schools, by establishing libraries and filling them with books, and by providing scholarships to help poor children to afford the mandatory school tuition. The villages with which they work believe that the best way to break the cycle of poverty is through an improvement in the education system. Learn more by visiting www.roomtoread.org. Important Facts: · Nepal is one of the world’s poorest countries with the average person surviving on less than $1 per day. · Illiteracy in Nepal directly contributes to serious problems like disease and environmental degradation, as the population is unable to read about basic concepts such as sanitation, crop rotation, or the effect of pollution on the environment. · Many rural Nepalese students have to walk as far as three hours to go to school. · With only $3,500, Room to Read can build a school with matching Nepali funds. A school serves more than 150 students. · Room to Read keeps its overhead to 5% of total donations. Quote
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