A 100th birthday bash, a unique Shocker version of an episode of Let’s Make a Deal – with the original host and producer of the show Monty Hall as emcee, no less! – plus only the best of food, entertainment and silent and live auction offerings were all rolled into one whale of a party at the Roundhouse on Saturday, Sept. 28.
Hall flew in from California with his wife, Marilyn, to emcee the live auction part of the event with Bonnie Bing Honeyman ’70. Annie Up, the John Goering Trio and WSU’s Madrigal Singers under the direction of Tom Wine were featured entertainers.
Some 20 of Wichita’s finest eateries and bakeries served up some of their tastiest fares, and hundreds of items, many of them one-of-a-kind Shocker products and experiences, went up for bid in both silent and live auctions. Greg “The Hitman” Williams called out special announcements during the fundraiser’s silent auction, which featured everything from a Muhammad Ali boxing glove, to Lady Gaga sheet music, to Tallgrass Film Festival tickets, to adorable Shocker wearables for kids – and adults.
To open the live auction segment of the fundraiser, an original video titled “The Gathering” and starring Honeyman as herself and Bucky Walters as the fictional Vincent Fiske was debuted to the raucous Shocker crowd gathered on the arena floor. WuShock jumped out of a gigantic birthday cake made of balloons, and past WSU Alumni Association presidents and executive directors took the stage to raise a toast in honor of the 100th anniversary of the 1913 founding of the organization.
The Roundhouse was rockin’ with Shockers. Among the attendees were such ultra-Shockers as WSU President John and First Lady Deborah ’75/77 Bardo; Mike “Voice of the Shockers” Kennedy ’71; Debbie Kennedy ’94, CEO and president of the 100-year-old alumni association; Gregg Marshall, Final Four Shocker men’s basketball coach; Jane Gilchrist ’68, past alumni association executive director; and Ernest Balay ’53, the volunteer president who was in office in 1971 when the association awarded Monty Hall its first ever honorary alumni membership for his generous service in organizing the Night of Stars benefit that raised funds for those most directly affected by the tragic WSU football plane crash of Oct. 2, 1970. The nationally televised fundraiser was held in the Roundhouse.
