A benefit held at Lutsen Mountains’ Papa Charlie’s Restaurant and Tavern on Saturday, November 19 raised a little over $7,000 (before expenses) for Birch Grove Community School, said Sarena Nelson, the lead organizer of the event.
“We had about 85 people attend the dinner and the silent auction,” said Nelson. “More than 75 vendors donated items for the silent auction, which was tremendous,” she added.
Guests were treated to music by the Step Rockets, a Twin Cities rock band led by Josh Schmidt, a graduate of Birch Grove School who grew up in Lutsen.
“I want to say thank you to everyone who came out to help out the school,” said Nelson. “I also want to say thank you to the staff at Papa Charlie’s. They did a great job setting everything up and the food was amazing. Also, I want to thank Sara Somnis for her help and all of the volunteers who made calls and assisted with everything.”
Birch Grove Community School is a tuition-free, public charter school serving kids in grades K-5. There is also a Saplings program for pre-school kids at BGCS. In 2016, BGCS received the High Quality Charter School award for the second year in a row, and throughout the years the school has won many awards for academic excellence.
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