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Published Tuesday, November 03, 2009 in Local

Auction benefits ECHS drama group

By Winston Skinner

The Times-Herald

Echostage supporters are hoping people will turn out Saturday to have a great time at the Raise the Curtain auction and generate some money to rebuild the drama space at East Coweta High School.

Echostage is the school drama organization at ECHS. Echostage has produced numerous comedic and dramatic productions in the space in a wing of the school, but the bleachers and other fittings were dismantled last school year when they were deemed unsafe by the fire marshal.

Members of Echostage Friends, a group comprised of parents and other supporters, have been working for several weeks to get the "Raise the Curtain" auction together. The auction will be held Saturday at 7 p.m. in the East Coweta High cafeteria.

A huge number of items have been collected for the auction. On a recent morning, Pam Wright was organizing students and parents to go into the community to seek donations. The efforts have been more than successful.

Wright, the daughter of Dr. Richard McMichen, the Echostage sponsor, said volunteers have been working on the project since "April or May."

McMichen proudly noted "a brand new Toyota" is among the items that have been donated. Other items offered at the auction will include:

* a ride in an antique airplane.

* a three-hour party with a disc jockey host.

* a "cake of the month" for seven months.

* old traffic signals.

* an hour ride on a horse.

* trips to Lake Lure, N.C., and Orlando/Disney.

* an antique organ.

* dance lessons from Echostage alum Tarun Patel.

"The unique things are what people have been interested in so far," Wright said.

Carrie Siraj, whose children have been involved in Echostage, is offering a decoratively painted desk in antique style. The desk features "a really detailed painting," she said.

Siraj -- who painted the set when Echostage presented "Thoroughly Modern Millie" a couple of years ago -- is an experienced trompe l'oeil painter. "I've been painting murals for 15-18 years," she said.

Echostage students have been involved for several years with the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS project. As a result of that connection, $900 in Broadway memorabilia -- posters and other items -- were sent.

Some of those items are being sold online to get top dollar for the drama room project. The Broadway Cares folks said they appreciated the help of the ECHS students in the past and wanted to help with their fundraiser.

There are "posters for all the big shows -- 'Cats,' 'Wicked,' 'The Color Purple,' 'Hairspray' -- all the big shows that people know," Wright said.

More prosaic -- but also fun -- items include gift cards for restaurants, stores and spas and hair stylists. There will be sittings for photographs, barstools and jewelry. Gift baskets with a range of themes from Broadway play memorabilia to food, makeup and auto maintenance items will be offered.

There also are some auction donations that will appeal specifically to East Coweta students -- senior dues, prom tickets and a yearbook, among them.

Wright said there are at least 100 different items "if not more."

Tickets are $5 each. Tickets ordered by Wednesday will be put into a drawing for a $50 door prize at the auction. To order tickets, call Matt Wright at 678-485-0039.

Auction organizers want to make sure they keep the "fun" in "fundraiser." Wright noted, "During the silent auction, we're going to have entertainment going on -- by the kids." The silent auction will start the event -- from 7-8:15 p.m. About 8:15, the auction will start.

Deciding what goes in the silent auction and what waits for later is more art than science. Wright said the silent auction leans toward "things people can see."

For example, autographed footballs were donated by Keith Brooking and by players and coaches from both the University of Georgia and the Georgia Institute of Technology. At least one football will be in the silent auction.

The silent auction will also feature some hand-crafted items -- "unique things which have no established price on them," McMichen said. "We have a lot of really unique items."

"We're trying to get our home back. This is what gets me through the school day -- what gets us all through," said Micaela Siraj, one of the students gathered in the drama space before heading out to gather items for the auction.

"I spend more time here than I do at home," added Aleecia Williams, another Echostage member.

"It was hard to get parents to buy into it at first," McMichen said. Once parents grasped the concept -- and potential -- of the auction, they got busy. The Echostage Friends group hopes to raise $50,000 toward retrofitting the drama space at East Coweta.