Museum of Idaho to hold major black-tie fundraising gala
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IDAHO FALLS – Break out your best threads. The Museum of Idaho in Idaho Falls is throwing a party.
The museum is holding its third annual Fundraising Gala on Friday, August 26. The goal of the event is to raise money needed to maintain the building, provide educational programs to the public and bring in first-class traveling exhibits, like the current “Genghis Khan: Conquest and Culture” exhibition.
It promises to be an evening of music, food and prize giveaways.
“This is the biggest fundraiser of the year for the Museum of Idaho,” M.O.I. spokeswoman Kaitlin Miklos told EastIdahoNews.com. “It’s so necessary for us to be able to put this on because we don’t get any state, federal or local government funding.”
Miklos described a gala as a “remarkably special occasion that raises awareness for a good cause.” The M.O.I,’s Gala will feature a special message from Idaho Governor Brad Little, as well as music from jazz trio The Dewdroppers and DJ Lenny Frasier will be providing music outside with equipment provided by ANDX Audio Visual. There will also be hors d’oeuvres, three bars serving drinks and bottomless champaign.
If that wasn’t enough excitement, a raffle and a silent auction will give attendees a chance to win some really great prizes. The silent auction will commence online on Friday, August 19 and finish up at the event. Click here to see the available items and bid.
“This year for the raffle items, a lot of local companies are donating items,” Miklos said. “Grand Teton Distillery is donating an entire basket of some pretty fun distillery items. One of our board members owns an Orlando resort timeshare and she’s offering a stay at her timeshare. We also have two free Alaska Airlines tickets, so you can use those tickets to go on your timeshare if you win both items.”
The silent auction will also feature some very desirable prizes, including some collectible sports memorabilia, some of it donated by former Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders offensive coordinator Tom Walsh.
“He lives here in Teton County now,” said Miklos. “It was really good for the museum to have his support. It was unexpected and we’re really, really grateful for that.”
The Gala brought in more than $30,000 in 2021. The museum staff hopes to surpass that figure this year so they can continue to expand the programming they offer to the community, maintain the museum archives and bring in more fantastic traveling exhibits.
“Some of these traveling exhibits are so expensive and if we don’t have the money, we don’t get them,” Miklos said. “We’ve had them for so many years and it’s because of fundraising events like the Gala and donations that come in through the Gala.”
Speaking of traveling exhibits, the museum welcomes its next exhibit, “Toytopia,” in October. It’s a show that will appeal to the kid inside all of us.
“‘Toytopia’ is for people of all ages,” said Miklos. “The toys your grandparents asked Santa for, those will be here. Then, the toys you played with when you were a kid, including arcade games from the 80s, all of that will be here. So it’s not just for kids.”
The Museum of Idaho’s Fundraising Gala is set for Friday, August 26 from 6:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. at the museum. Formal attire is requested. Click here for tickets and for more information, visit the M.O.I. website.
