July 29, 2024 – The Clovis East High School (CEHS) Football team “kicked off” the start of the football season this past Saturday, July 27th, with their biggest fundraising event of the year – a night of dinner, community, and competitive auctioning to raise money for the team’s activities.
The evening started with attendees walking up to the door and being greeted by the whole football team clapping and cheering them on, welcoming them into the building on the Clovis Rodeo Grounds where the event took place.
The inside of the location was decked out with tons of football-themed décor. Tables were filled with model goalposts with names for families that had registered for the event, a photo wall with a stadium view was centered on one of the walls, and referee-shirt-designed napkins were situated at each seat, among other decorative items in the room.
But the sight to truly see was not the football décor filling the room – rather, it was the auction items that drew in the attention of attendees, who browsed the tables in anticipated delight.
Head Football Coach Brandon Nagle explained that this event was not only to fundraise money for the team – it was also to get parents and community supporters excited for the upcoming football season.
He stated, “This is our third year doing [the fundraiser], we just kind of get the parents excited about the season, the fans excited about the season. It just kind of sets the tone for how our year is going to go.”
There was a variety of ways participants were invited to compete against each other – a dessert table with delectable goodies, packaged sets of items donated from local businesses, a raffle table with eye-catching items such as a TV and pizza oven, and the “live auction” items, which were by far the most fought-over items of the night.
One of the team member’s parents, Chris Haun, explained that these events take a lot of work. He and his wife, Chantal, are full-time working parents of three kids, one of them being a senior on the football team at CEHS and a former member of the marching band.
Haun explained, “It’s a lot of work, it takes a village but it’s nice to see everybody have a good time. It’s the opportunity for the coach to introduce his coaches and then try to get more parents involved and more sponsors involved.”
The live auction items, emcee and CEHS Baseball Coach Ryan Smith explained to the audience, were not something able to simply be purchased online or anywhere else – they were once-in-a-lifetime experiences only offered to the highest bidder.
Some of these experiences included a trip to Shaver Lake complete with jet skis and a family-sized boat, preferred seating at the 2025 Clovis East Commencement for parents of seniors, and a training with the Fresno Police Department SWAT Team.
And while the live auction items were particularly popular, plenty of other items got bid over as well – over at the dessert table, participants watched with watering mouths at the desserts being auctioned, such as brownies shaped like footballs, cookies with frosting that matched the school’s colors, and other items.
On the other side of the room, local businesses advertised with their best selections – Raising Cane’s had a gift basket with a hat, plush dog, and other things, Chick-Fil-A offered gift cards and other items in their own package, and on the table was also found a laundry basket with college essentials.
But one of the most popular items of all was the Fresno State gift basket, which was so large in size that it had to be seated on the ground instead of the table. This basket included a Fresno State blanket, 2 season tickets, quad chairs, baseball hats, a glass cutting board, and other highly-valued items.
It seemed that every attendee went home happy with something that night – whether it was the delicious dinner of tri-tip and pulled pork sandwiches, the items that were won, or the time with fellow football team parents and community supporters to get hyped up for the upcoming season, there was something for everyone there.
Though many items caught the attention of attendees at the event, the true thing of value that night was the community support for the CEHS football team, something that will hopefully continue in the years ahead.
The funds from this event go towards a multitude of events and items for the football team throughout the season, but most of the support they received from this event will go towards their trip to compete against West High School in Salt Lake City, Utah on August 23rd.