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GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

AUGUST 5, 1994

Indoor Garden Party brings unexpected results

Continued from page 1

final figures were unavailable by Chronicle deadline, Tim Homan, chair person for the benefit, estimated the Center will clear just under $20,000, ten thousand dollars short of its goal of $30,000. Expenses, totalling around $8,000, were partially underwritten by the corporate sponsorship of Wright, Wesley & Mills, a Cleveland accounting firm. Corporate sponsorship for the annual event was a first for the Center.

The shift in venue surprised many, but most people agreed that the air-conditioning and indoor restrooms were a welcome change for this mid-summer affair. Benefit Chairman Tim Homan attributed the slightly lower attendance to the new location. "Our attendance was lower, yes," he said. "We suspect that perhaps it was the theater setting. I think the people were overwhelmed by the idea of being in a theater. It did not allow for the kind of interaction we're used to with the live auction. It was a little sterile."

Judy Rainbrook, executive director for the Center, agreed with Homan's assessment of the location, but hesitated to make a guess at what kept people home. She does not feel that changes at the Center in recent months was an issue. Instead, she pointed to a lack of publicity work as a contributing factor. "I think probably what we didn't do enough of is publicity. We just didn't have sufficient people power to do all that was needed there and run the event

Homan, who took over duties as chair a short eight weeks prior to the event, and served as chair at last year's Garden Party with just six weeks notice, admits that more time must be given if future parties are to succeed. "If I had started last October or September I think we could have drawn a larger crowd. You do need about a year to make this work. But overall I'm happy."

Rainbrook agreed. "We do want to have the Garden Party committee start meeting

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much earlier next year, maybe try and start up in January. But with any event, that's basically a volunteer-run event you run it based on the availability of your volunteers. One can say 'yes, we're going to start a lot earlier,' but if you don't have the volunteers there to take leadership roles, then you don't start as early as you'd like."

In years past, the event has been held outdoors at the private homes of Center patrons. But because of a lack of available sites, Homan says the community may have to get used to the idea of future indoor garden parties. "It was much easier having it at the Play House. We didn't have to worry about renting buses to get people there or parking. I do think the outdoor element was missing, but the truth is, we just don't have the access to large homes where we can handle three to four hundred people. We're may have to get used to this kind of setting in the future."

Rainbrook says that patrons have offered their homes for next year, but party organizers may have to decide if amenities are more important than a bucolic setting. "We actually have three offers of homes for next year," she said. "I think it's going to be a question of people making some kind of a decision [whether or not] it is more convenient to have it at something like the Play House. It's really nice to not have to deal with the tents and the shuttle bus and the security. But on the other hand, if we had three hundred people at the Play House, I think we would have been stuffed in there like sardines"

Both Rainbrook and Homan were particularly pleased by the items donated for this year's auction. "Not only were donations up this year," said Homan, "but the quality was much higher. We set a minimum value of twenty-five dollars for all donations. And we had nearly two hundred pieces. That's up from around one hundred and fifty last year."

Prior to the "live" portion of the auction in the afternoon, Joan Organ, president of the Center's board of trustees, took the stage to acknowledge the sexual orientation legislation introduced by Mayor Michael White and passed by Cleveland City Council last spring. On hand to accept a commemorative plaque and the community's thanks were Council member Helen Smith and the mayor's representative, Sam Thomas III, executive director of the Community Relations Board.

Divided into both a "silent" portion, with bids written on paper next to displayed items, and a "live" setting with an auctioneer, the auction featured a variety of paintings, prints, photographs, objets d'art and certificates for donated services. But the two halves of the auction drew widely different responses from attendees.

The silent auction saw much feverish activity, especially as auctioneer Evelyn Hayes began to close the bidding on each table of items. Several pieces drew much murmuring and higher bids than expected. An unframed, numbered print commemorating the 75th anniversary season of the Cleveland Orchestra started out at $5 and saw numerous bids at five dollar intervals before settling at $85. A simple 1940's woodcut of a male nude began

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"I saw it first!" Betsy Tabac and Dale Smith debate the future ownership of a plate during the silent auction at the Center's Garden Party.

the afternoon with a starting bid of $15 and finished at $150.

Oddly, the live auction never seemed to get off the ground. Many items sold well below their expected draw. Homan was especially disappointed by the lack of attention given to what might be considered the celebrity portion of the show, an autographed pair of dance shoes worn by Mikhail Baryshnikov. They went for less than $100. "I was shocked!" said Homan, still somewhat surprised. "After all the trouble I went through to get those shoes donated when Baryshnikov was performing here last year. I'm really amazed."

Rising Cleveland photographer Steve Vaccariello donated two works, one appearing in the silent auction and one in the live. Again, the work in the silent auction drew more attention than its counterpart in the live portion. Homan says he was struck by the activity in the silent auction and will analyze the results of both auctions to determine where the emphasis should be placed next

year.

Also apparent to veterans of past Garden Parties were the new faces present. Though Homan acknowledges that the affair has a reputation for being a middle-class, white male event and most of those present illustrated the fact he says, nonetheless, “We hit a new crowd this year. We had people who were there last year that I didn't see this year. It's presumptuous of me to think I know everyone in the community, but there were a lot of people I've never seen before."

Rainbrook says the Center took decisive steps at changing the make-up of the audi-

ence.

"We did several things in outreach to women this time," Rainbrook explained. "We mailed to the entire Oven Productions mail-

ing list, and we mailed to the entire Sistahparty mailing list. We went to considerable effort to have things that were particularly womenfocused at the event, such as the Kimbilio Farms and the Springhill Farms [vacation] packages. And we had a lot of women who were advertisers this year." She said that effort was also made to provide a wide price range of auctioned items, "so there wouldn't be this feeling of 'Gee, if you don't have a thousand dollars in your pocket you couldn't participate.'

""

Rainbrook is firm that the Center will continue to do more outreach in the future, though she knows it will take time. "When you have this sort of reputation that's gone on for a while, it takes a long time for people to believe that things have changed. It takes a while for word to filter out. I think the weak spot that we've had is we don't have anybody on the staff whose job it is to do public relations, and we don't have anybody on the board whose job it is to do public relations. We did all the work we should have done, but there weren't enough people who knew it. Next year we'll try to fix that as well."

The afternoon ran without hitch. Banners heralding the Play House's coming season draped the theater lobby in vibrant colors wellmatched by the lush floral garden created by Tom Jenkins. Lunch, prepared by Bob Sferra, provided a pleasant retreat for patrons debating potential bids. The dessert table caused enough activity to rival the silent auction.

Auctioneer Evelyn Hayes added her nowlegendary banter and style to the proceedings. Her rapport with the audience indicated a level of comfortable familiarity surely missing from the average auction. Later, any doubts about the indoor setting were quelled as people filtered back outdoors and into the oppressive summer heat.

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