Parents and other members of the Lab community can wipe away the dreariness of winter by anticipating the opening of baseball season and planning to attend Connections 2003
The annual benefit will be held at the Field Museum and guests will have access throughout the evening to the museum's "Baseball as America" exhibit of Cooperstown artifacts from our national pastime.
Tickets to the event are $150 per person (half price for Lab faculty and staff). Proceeds from the evening benefit the "Rehab the Labs" fund drive for the final phase of high school science lab renovations. In keeping with the baseball theme, dress for the event is casual.
George Jewell Catering will provide an all-American theme for the food. Auction items will include unique family experiences, such as behind-the-scenes visits to the Art Institute, the Museum of Science and Industry, and the San Francisco Opera. The opera package also includes performance tickets. In addition to the unique experiences, sports memorabilia and classroom projects will also be auctioned.
Entertainment will include a DJ for dancing, music teacher Dom Piane and the High School jazz band, as well as dance troupe.
"Parents may get involved in many ways," said Kalli Kerr, Connections co-chair. "They may help with underwriting, volunteering to assist during the evening, placing an ad in the ad book, or donating a unique experience."
"Most of all, we are eager for people to come and enjoy themselves. This annual event has become an important way for us to bring us together as a community," said co-chair Cindy Chereskin.
Other volunteers for the event are Ned Reece, who is in charge of underwriting; Jan Holmes, who is in charge of the auction; and Kim du Buclet and Renee Rehkemper, who are in charge of the ad book.
"Baseball as America" features more than 500 artifacts from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum. The exhibition is intended to illuminate the complex relationship between America and its signature sport.
The game's place in the heart of our nation is illustrated by artifacts like the "original" Abner Doubleday baseball, Babe Ruth's bat, autographed balls thrown by a succession of U.S. Presidents on Opening Day, Franklin Delanor Roosevelt’s letter giving the green light to Major League Baseball just weeks after Pearl Harbor, and a baseball pulled from the rubble of the World Trade Center.
There will also be a special display of baseball artifacts related to Chicago, including Sammy Sosa's 62nd home-run ball, which was hit out of the park and returned to him after a lawsuit.