Hoedown time for Las Lomitas school district Hoedown time for Las Lomitas school district (May 04, 2005)

It's Hoedown time again. The annual Western-themed fundraising event for the Las Lomitas Elementary School District is in its 24th year of sponsorship by the Las Lomitas Education Foundation.

Funds raised this year will support the visual and performing arts at the district's two schools.

Parents and friends of the district will encounter both the familiar and the new at the event, set for Saturday, May 14, from 5 to 10 p.m. at Woodside's Portola Farms.

The family camp-out returns, along with the father-daughter dance and the silent and live auctions. Three new raffles are planned: A $20 glass of Champagne buys the glass and a raffle ticket for a diamond pendant; $20 also buys five hands of blackjack, with the player with the most chips winning a diamond pendant; and $100 buys a ticket in a drawing for a Rolex watch.

The diamond pendants are courtesy of Jackson Square Fine Jewelers of Redwood City. Gleim Jewelers donated the Rolex watch. Raffle tickets for the watch are available from Lori Brockman at 561-9186. The winner need not be present.

Music this year is by the Scouts of the Cascades, a three-man band of Western troubadours. Notable auction items include a jersey signed by Barry Bonds, trips to Mexico, and a visit for 30 kids with the San Francisco 49ers during practice and chaperoned by a former 49er who lives in Woodside.

An online auction from May 3 through May 5 will offer a luxury suite for 16 at the Giants-versus-Padres baseball game at SBC Park on Saturday, May 28. To bid, go to llef.org between May 3 and May 5.

Tickets to the event are $100 and are available by reservation only. To make a reservation, call Cathy Lewis at 854-6165. Portola Farms is located at 1545 Portola Road in Woodside.

For more information about the Hoedown, call chairwoman Virginia Chang Kiraly at 854-9398.
Causes in need

The Las Lomitas district serves more than 1,000 elementary school students from parts of Menlo Park, Atherton, Woodside, Portola Valley and East Palo Alto. The district has two schools: Las Lomitas is K-3 and La Entrada, grades 4 through 8.

Members of the Las Lomitas Education Foundation include parents, staff and community members. Funds raised go to maintaining quality teaching, small class sizes and a broad curriculum.

Last year, the foundation raised $900,000. Of that total, the Hoedown -- with over 500 people in attendance -- generated $194,000. This year's goal is $200,000, said Ms. Chang Kiraly. All proceeds go to the foundation.

The foundation's "Fund a Need" appeal this year will target support for visual and performing arts, including the purchase of new musical instruments and additional in-class art and drama at Las Lomitas; and support for musicals, a new pottery kiln, and an updated sound system at La Entrada.

Starting May 3, donations to "Fund a Need" may be made online at llef.org.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.