SMB Alumni Fundraiser - Poker Tournament and Dinner
We Made Our $$$ Goal!!!
Drum Major's Mom Wins it ALL !

The SMB Alumni hosted its annual Poker fundraiser. This year we've reached our goal of raising enough funds to pay for a Yamaha C-5 Grand Piano for the Choir Department! Congratulations to all who supported our efforts these past three years. Your generosity in funds and in spirit, year after year, are greatly appreciated. Jim Yowell spoke with heartfelt gratitude to all of the alumni and friends.

Each year we hear from folks who shy away from attending because they've never played poker before. Well to all you folks, for the second year in a row, a BEGINNER has taken the tournament! Charlene Chiang, mom of past Drum Major Albert Chiang (class of 2006), started the tournament laughing and admitting that she did not know what she was doing, losing all of her chips, and donating to get a second set of chips, and then donating again to get more chips. Well, she's a fast learner because her pile kept growing from that point on, and she walked away the tournament champion! Son Albert proudly looked on from the sidelines as his mom took down the seasoned crew of competitors. Congratulations, Charlene! She won a red chili piñata filled with a bottle of fine wine donated by Maureen and Fran Barton, and a gift certificate for dinner at Casa De Cobre In downtown Saratoga.

Our second place winner was Greg Renda, husband of our co-President Katherine Schwertley. Newcomers to the Poker Tournament, they both had the best of times, and Greg won a brilliantly decorated cake from Nothing Bundt Cakes, donated by Takako Hasegawa. We do want to congratulate all of the players who made it to the final table: Along with Charlene & Greg, were Jan Conroy, Anjali Srivasta, Derek Chang, Dave Harada, Mike Hellman, John Haggarty, and Howard Miller, our honorable Mayor and husband of Sandy Miller – last year's Tournament Champion. It is an accomplishment to make it to the final table – congratulations!

The fundraiser was held once again at Jan and Dave Conroy's beautiful home in Monte Sereno. Who could have asked for a better venue? The weather was perfect with a full moon complementing the evening. In addition to donating their home, the Conroy's donated the wine and beer to the cause!

The night was Mexican Fiesta with Burritos of the 90's, enchilada's and frozen margaritas! Special thanks go out to Nothing Bundt Cakes who donated three trays of desserts – bundt cakes of course! Next time you visit them, send the owner a big thanks!

We'd like to thank everyone who donated to the cause, and noteworthy are our larger donors: Jan & Dave Conroy, Maureen Barton, Minhua Jin, Albert Chiang, and Jim Axline. We hope you had a lot of fun, and we hope to see you next year at the poker tables! ;-)

Sincerely,
Maureen Barton, Bev Harada, Takako Hasegawa, Sangita Seshadri, & Patti Workman
SMB Alumni Chairs