Kids win Hoover police Porsche, Bearcat rides at Denim & Dining auction
Several Hoover school kids soon will get a ride to school in the Police Department’s armored vehicle or Porsche thanks to some surprise entries into an auction at a Hoover City Schools Foundation fundraiser Friday night.
Hoover police Chief Nick Derzis, who served as the auctioneer at the Denim & Dining event at Aldridge Gardens, came prepared to offer a kid a ride to school in the Police Department’s seized Porsche as the final auction package at the fundraiser.
The promise was for a police officer to pick the kid up at home and “squeal the tires out” as they head to school, and “they’re gonna pop that siren,” the chief joked.
He started the bidding at $200 and then upped the ante and said the Porsche has a small back seat, so “we’ll put three kids in this thing.”
Derzis thought he had a winner at $450, but he apparently missed another interested party’s bid, so he agreed to give away two rides at $450 each.
Jonathan and Rebecca Jones won one of the packages for their 6-year-old son, Brooks, who attends Trace Crossings Elementary School. Eric and Joan Bishop won the other package for their 14-year-old twins, Natalie and Emmett Bishop, who attend Berry Middle School.
“It’s something they’ll remember forever,” Eric Bishop said.
Then, another audience member threw a twist into things by asking if the chief would auction off a ride in the Police Department’s armored Bearcat vehicle for $800.
The chief quickly consulted Mayor Frank Brocato, who reportedly told Derzis he might need to check with the city’s risk management department. But Derzis and Brocato made a quick judgment and agreed to the auction request.
The Bearcat idea came from Nick Bussey, who wanted to give his girlfriend’s 14-year-old and 12-year-old kids the ride, and he partnered with James and Elisabeth Bottom, who wanted to give their eighth-grader a ride. All three children attend Bumpus Middle School.
The Police Department rides ended up being the highest auction bids of the night.
Former Hoover Council President Gene Smith won a bidding battle for a signed and framed jersey signed by former University of Alabama kicker Will Reichard, who is the NCAA all-time leading scorer for the Football Bowl Subdivision. Smith paid $750 for the Reichard jersey.
Tom and Jennifer Williams paid $700 for a Birmingham Barons package that included four tickets to a home game, parking pass, game-worn jersey, throwing out the first pitch and the opportunity to serve as a live announcer for half an inning.
Tom Williams said this was their first time to come to the Denim & Dining fundraiser. They wanted to come because the Hoover school system has been so good to their four kids, two of whom already graduated from Spain Park High School. “We just wanted to give something back,” Williams said.
State Rep. Mike Shaw, R-Hoover, paid $700 for a four-hour rental of Aldridge Gardens, while another bidder won four-rental of the Hoover-Randle Home & Gardens for $650.
A one-night stay at the Pursell Farms country inn in Sylacauga and round of golf for two people auctioned for $600, while a three-night stay a lakefront home at Logan Martin Lake in Alpine went for $500.
An 18-carat white gold diamond pendant with a .2-carat diamond auctioned for $550, and a round of golf for three people with WBRC Fox 6 reporter Jeh Jeh Pruitt and $150 gift certificate for Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille went for $500.
The live auction raised $7,025 in total, said Anne Marie Harvey, the new executive director for the Hoover City Schools Foundation.
A silent auction netted $6,340 and included items such as stays at various higher-end hotels, carpet cleaning, physical therapy, jewelry, a “Final 4” Alabama basketball signed by Alabama coach Nate Oats, a kids’ bicycle, a football jersey signed by former Alabama and NFL player Shaun Alexander, gift baskets, a pet portrait session, charcuterie board, cutting boards and 12 months of free ice cream at The Whole Scoop ice cream shop.
The overall total money raised with the Denim & Dining fundraiser was an estimated $50,000, including $25,000 to $30,000 in sponsorships, $2,100 in other donations and ticket sale revenues of about $8,500, Harvey said.
Money raised at the event, which is the foundation’s biggest fundraiser each year, is used to fund innovative projects by teachers in Hoover City Schools. The foundation in recent years has been able to give out more than $50,000 a year in grants to teachers and has fully funded a Hovercraft project for fifth graders in all Hoover schools, as well as helping fund a program designed to engage more girls in math and science.
About 140 people attended the event. Those who came got a casual barbecue dinner catered by Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q and dessert provided by students from the Culinary and Hospitality Academy at the Riverchase Career Connection Center.
Music was provided by Jenna and Ben Kuykendall and students from Hoover High School’s Jazz Band.
“For my first time, I thought the event went extremely well,” Harvey said. “It seemed like everybody was having a wonderful time, and I heard multiple times it was a great evening.”
This week, the Hoover City Schools Foundation will be raffling off reserved seats to the 2024 graduation ceremonies for Hoover and Spain Park high schools and a close parking space for Spain Park’s graduation at Samford University. The raffles will go on the Hoover City Schools Foundation website Monday, and winners likely will be drawn Friday in a Facebook live drawing, Harvey said.