Some 500 Shockers turned out for the WSU Alumni Association’s biggest fundraiser of the year on Oct. 24 at Charles Koch Arena. As always, attendees vied for silent and live auction items, enjoyed special Shocker entertainment and personalities — and were treated to wagonloads of food and drink.
This fall, the 2015 From Field to Fork edition of Rockin’ the Roundhouse (RnR) harvested a theme from our collective Wheatshocker heritage and showcased some of Wichita’s best-loved restaurants and their unique takes on local food sources.
Participating restaurant sponsors were Beautiful Day Café, Bricktown Brewery, Chocolate Cascades, Deano’s Grill & Tapworks, Delano Barbeque Company, Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, Granite City Food & Brewery, Greystone Steak and Seafood, Il Vicino Wood Oven Pizza, Jerseys Grill & Bar, Legends Restaurant and Lounge at DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Airport, Molino’s Mexican Cuisine, Noodles & Company, P.F. Chang’s China Bistro, Premier Catering, Rita’s, Roaster Joe’s Coffee, Redrock Canyon Grill, Sweet Allie B’s, and University Dining Services-Sodexo.
A new addition to RnR offerings was the Shocker Wine Pull, which offered participants the chance of selecting a mystery bottle of wine. There were no losers. Everyone received a bottle. But there were some RnR-goers who took home bottles of superior vintages, and there were a few lucky Shocker Wine Pull winners who nabbed WuShock-etched bottles.
Shocker-specific items were the hits of the night in more RnR fields than the event’s inaugural wine pull. Yellow-and black crocheted scarves and headgear, as well as handcrafted quilts and wall clocks featuring the image of vintage WuShock, caught the attention of silent auction bidders. And in the live auction, a numbered and limited edition letterpress print signed by WSU Coach Gregg Marshall caused a stir with bidders. The Hammerpress print – “The Wake-Up Call in Omaha: Wichita State University 78, University of Kansas 65, March 22, 2015” — is one of only 50 in existence. Even fewer are framed and signed by Marshall — and it was the only one taken home at the end of the night by winning bidder Denis Dieker ’77/80, immediate past chair of the WSUAA board of directors.
Before RnR auctioneer Charlie Moon and his crew took the live auction stage, entertainers DJ Carbon, Kenzie Elyse, WSU student, singer-songwriter and winner of the 2015 Shockers Got Talent competition, and the WSU student cast of “Smokey Joe’s Cafe” had the crowd rockin’ in the Roundhouse.
Sponsors of RnR 2015: From Field to Fork were: Shocker Patron, McCormick Armstrong; Shocker Harvesters, Cox Communications, Delta Dental of Kansas, Foulston Siefkin LLP, Ludeman Insulation & Supply Inc., Nelson Inc., Professional Engineering Consultants PA, St. Lasom Enterprises, Transtecs Corp., WSU Office of the General Counsel, and WSU Office of the President/Office of Academic Affairs.
Shocker Cultivators, Capps Manufacturing Inc., Tony Durano/State Farm Agent, Hinkle Law Firm, House of Schwan, Doug and Liz McGinness, PepsiCo, Standard Beverage, Wichita Public Schools, WSU Athletics, WSU Foundation; Shocker Planters, Doug and Nancy Blackman, Paul and Gay Dahlke, Scott and Paige Dodson, John Dreifort, Great Plains Inspection Co. Inc./Larry Hickock, Clay and Mindy McPheeters, Rand Graphics, Triplett Woolf & Garretson; and Shocker Wheaties, Legacy Bank, Kansas State Bank.
“We thank every one of our sponsors and restaurant sponsors, our live and silent auction contributors — and every person who came out to have fun and rock the Roundhouse,” says Courtney M. Marshall, WSUAA president and CEO. “We appreciate this great Shocker support for the programs and operations of the WSU Alumni Association.”
