The first ever Sweethearts ‘N Denim party sponsored by the Salamone Family fed 480 dinners, gave away eight iPads and raised over $7,000 for the AZQHYA with BINGO and the silent auction. Because gambling is not allowed in Arizona, they were careful to sell candy and dinner package with their BINGO so that their youth wouldn’t get arrested for illegal gambling! Horse show mom and sponsor Jami Salamone gave us a rundown of the party!
From Jami Salamone:
My daughter, Gabriella, has been honored to receive the Arizona Quarter Horse Association Youth All Around High Point award and saddle for the last three years (2009, 2010, 2011) and the Novice Youth (2008) and 13 & Under high point in years prior to that. We (the Salamone family) wanted to do more to contribute back to our state in a meaningful way by creating an event at the Sun Circuit that would be popular and fun for the exhibitors–a benefit to the Sun Circuit show and generate donations for the Arizona Quarter Horse Youth Association.
In creating the Salamone Sweethearts ‘N Denim party, we are creating a brand that our family can either continue over the years or hand over to the Arizona Quarter Horse Association (AZQHA) to solicit other title sponsors in the future. Basically, I have the second largest Quarter Horse show in my backyard, and I have considered many options over the years to take advantage of this great opportunity for raising money and creating a win/win for everyone – the show, the exhibitors, the vendors and the youth – that we could make a platform year after year and grow as we learn what works.
When we (the Salamone family) signed up as sponsors, I promised Doug Huls that I would not interfere with his marketing efforts for the show by asking vendors and sponsors for donations – that would be counter-productive for all of us. Amazingly, our largest sponsors volunteered to contribute not only for the Silent Auction, but also buying iPads for BINGO prizes. I was overwhelmed by everyone’s generosity and the heart of the Quarter Horse world. In all the years that I worked in the corporate world, any charitable event for which I was responsible, required presentation folders and benefit descriptions and spreadsheets and whatever! When I mentioned to my wonderful Quarter Horse friends and family that we were hosting a benefit, they responded, “What can I do to help?”
Salamone Sweethearts ‘N Denim party included a wonderful pasta dinner catered by the Sweet Shop with their infamous chocolate chip cookies and brownies for dessert. The dinner was open and free for everyone at the show, exhibitors, vendors and staff. We wanted to share the love with everyone. We are crazy about our generous vendors at Sun Circuit and many of them jumped into the silent auction as we were setting up. Again, another example of the heart of our horse show world.
The dinner concluded with iPad BINGO which was a great success – and a bit of a cluster given that it was the first year of trying a BINGO party. I didn’t know what to expect in terms of attendance or problems that might crop up during the games. I was honestly stunned that we had approximately 300 plus people with BINGO cards ready to play – standing room only. I was hoping for 30 to 50 thinking that it was a new idea and most folks wouldn’t stick around late for a BINGO party. We gave away two iPad 2s and a set of Dr Dre Beats headphones to the adult winners and four iPad 2’s to the youth winners. When we had multiple youth winners and ran out of iPads, Dee MacGruder and Doug Huls stepped in to offer donations for an additional two iPads. Another example of our incredible and generous AQHA members.
A special shout out to the Sun Circuit staff that bent over backwards to help us get the show together, particularly Doug Huls. Doug checked in with me regularly over the last few weeks and months to make sure that I had everything I needed for a successful event. He was ahead of me every step of the way, and I was super-impressed with the show this year as was many other people I chatted with over the week. Not to mention, the weather has been a steady 70-75 degrees all nine days – sunshine, horses, shopping, parties, what more could you ask for?
Margie Crumpton worked tirelessly to help us during the show and work the awards booth at the same time. She is amazing! Gabriella and teammate Taylor Searles spent several weekends and countless hours making Valentine decorations, candy bags and decorating our golf cart at the show. We also had help from several other Arizona team members, notably Katie Abbott, Kaitlyn Parks and Shea Graham gave assists in decorating and marketing the party during the nine day show.
Next year will be bigger and better now that we know what to expect. I already have more donations offered for iPads and auction items by our wonderful friends that attended the party. 2013 Sweethearts ‘N Denim will be the sweetest!
