By KELLY KULTYS

NEWS EDITOR

Residence Halls Association’s (RHA) “A Series of Fortunate Events” came to a close late Saturday evening March 2, 2013, as the final prize was auctioned off.

The auction was the final of five events that spanned approximately one month and included Poker Night, Quizzo, beer tasting and the Talent Showcase.

“It went well, not as well as other ones, with snow and the Greek Night, so not as many people as years past, but we still had a good turnout and raised a lot of money,” Vice President of RHA, John Treseler, GSB‘14,  said.

“A lot of alumni, especially RHA alumni attended the event,” Maria Buck, FCRH ’15, RHA treasurer in Finlay Hall, said.

The night included both a live and silent auction. In the live part, the most popular auction prize of the night was breakfast for four with Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the University, which sold for over $800.

Other top prizes were the top two spots in the housing lottery, which went for a few hundred dollars each.

For the silent auction, many clubs and organizations on Arthur Avenue donated various prizes.

“There was a Windows Surface, which was being auctioned off and it had a ton of tickets in it,” Treseler said. “That one had clearly the most in it.”

Silent auction prizes included four tickets to a New York Yankees game from USG, items for Spring Weekend from CAB, tickets to Mimes and Mummers’ spring show and “cut the line” passes from FET.

Some of the other events enjoyed even more success. Beer Tasting was one of the most popular of the RHA’s philanthropic activities of the month. Dagger John’s, the location of the event was at capacity. Students were even turned away at the door.

“It went great,” Treseler said. “We had the guys from the Bronx Beer Hall come over. We tried six beers and raised close to $700 that night. It was a lot of fun.”

Another well-attended event was the Talent Showcase.

“How it works is you can pay for a vote; that’s how we raise money,” Treseler said.

The performances at the Showcase consisted of a wide variety of acts, many of which performed at the Sound Out Sandy Concert held in the fall.

Among those performing were the usual favorites, including Flava and the B-Sides. Others, including student performers, such as the improv team of Will Ganss, FCRH’14 and Tara Minogue, FCRH’15, also performed.

“I liked the bands and groups more than the individual [performances],” Erica DePalma, FCRH’15, said.

“There was actually this group of seniors, Keating Steps, who won by one vote over Flava,” Treseler said. “It was a lot of fun to have the votes coming in. It looked really nice in there, especially with the lights. We had blue lights and purple lights around.”

“The talent was fierce at the Talent Showcase, but I voted for Keating Steps because they had a great combination of artists,” Brittany Tobin, GSB’15, said.

The Talent Showcase profits, however, went to a different organization, instead of the hurricane relief efforts.

“This one went to the B+ Foundation,” Treseler said. “It’s a group which works with pediatric cancer that Betsy Carter (FCRH’13) put us in touch with.”

The rest of the proceeds were donated to the University’s Sandy Relief Fund, which helps sponsor its Sandy Saturday outings and donations to the damaged communities.

Individual RHA residence hall boards also helped to raise money for Sandy relief.

“Queen’s Court did a candy gram sale, which was pretty big,” Treseler said. “They raised over $130. During the course of the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, you could write a note and attach it to a piece of candy. The RHA members delivered them on Valentine’s Day.”

Another fundraiser coming up is one in Tierney Hall, run by “tri-board,” which is the RHA members from Finlay, O’Hare and Tierney Halls.

“They’re doing their own mini-auction, which is like ‘spend a day with Jeff Coltin (FCRH’15) at WFUV,” Treseler said.

The proceeds from this event will also be donated to Sandy relief.

Next up on the agenda for RHA is the Under the Tent dance, held during Spring Weekend. The official theme will be announced within the coming weeks.