The annual fundraiser to provide tuition assistance in Missoula Catholic Schools drew more than 1,000 people for a packed weekend that included a showstopping appearance by a former University of Montana football standout, and an award for extraordinary volunteerism by an 83-year-old woman.

Missoula Catholic Schools and the Loyola Sacred Heart Foundation presented BASH—Building a Scholastic Heritage—on April 23-24 with the theme “Believe.” It was “all about the kids,” said the organizers. This is the 39th year that a fundraiser expressly for tuition assistance has taken place.

Events, held at the Sister Rita Mudd Center, began with a Friday Family Fun night hosted by Trish Opitz and Trish Madsen and featuring Kids Zone, a picnic and auctions, both silent and live. Items and services auctioned included a power generator, vacation condominium packages and Snowbowl ski passes.

Also part of the evening was a 50/50 coin-flip game in which the longer a player’s guess remained correct, the longer he or she played. The field narrowed to two people who then guessed the coin’s final flip, to determine the jackpot winner.

The evening of Saturday, April 24, put a spotlight on the tireless volunteer service of 83-year-old Dorothy “Dee” Stergios, described as “the real heart and soul of BASH 2010 volunteers.” She received the Shining Star Award, given annually to the person considered the crème de la crème of Missoula Catholic Schools supporters.

“She has given so much to Missoula Catholic Schools, the (Loyola Sacred Heart) Foundation, the people of Missoula and BASH over the years, it would be very difficult to summarize,” the school system and the foundation said. In preparing for BASH, they said, she spent several weeks requesting donations by phone, “but in reality she was mending hearts, soothing the broken hearted and praying with her phone donors.”

Saturday brought additional auctions, these during and after an Outback Steakhouse meal served by Loyola Sacred Heart High School students and preceded by cocktails. Antique art and furniture, estate planning services and Grizzly-Bobcat helmets plus other sports gear were among the goods and services in a silent auction. A live auction tapped the skill of Seattle auctioneer Larry Snyder, who conducts sales nationwide and said the BASH auction is his favorite because “people in Missoula really care for the school and the kids.”

Assisted by bid monitor Matt Manley, Snyder got offers on a puppy; a 4-foothigh dollhouse made by hand; original art by painter Hadley Ferguson; NASCAR “Hot Pit” passes; Green Bay Packers football tickets; use of a private jet to fly eight people to any destination west of the Mississippi River; and a weeklong, family vacation at Big Sky Resort.

The selling didn’t stop there, however. Add to the mix former UM football player Marc Mariani, who had promised BASH 20 minutes of stage time but remained at the event for more than two hours as he mingled.

“Was the Blessed Mother working for BASH that night?” said Rich Goulah, who with his wife, Sande, hosted Saturday night’s events. “I’d say so, because although Marc’s presence was arranged months in advance, he arrived shortly after being drafted by the NFL Tennessee Titans!” Mariani dazzled the BASH crowd as he auctioned Grizzly-Bobcat tickets and more, Goulah said.

Everyone who participated in BASH, even to a small extent, was in a walk with Christ, the organizers said. Sponsors and others who visited the Loyola Sacred Heart Foundation office in the weeks preceding the fundraiser received rosaries that had been blessed. The planning phase of BASH culminated on the evening of Thursday, April 22, when volunteers prayed together at a Mass celebrated by Father George Dumais.

“Everybody’s heart was focused on the kids and the school as each piece of the weekend came together,” Rich Goulah said.

A number of volunteers already are looking ahead to BASH 2011, set for April 15-16.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 5, May 21, 2010.