Silent Auction To Die For at Center Place Gala

Were you lucky enough to snag a ticket to tonight's sold-put Center Place "Surf's Up" Patron Party? If so, bring your plastic, extra cash or a blank check, because roughly 130 jam-packed silent-auction baskets will be on display for sale.

Brandon Patch got a preview look Friday, April 12, the day before the center's 29th annual patrol party, which this year is being held at Center Place.

In years past, the event has been held off-site, in part to accommodate a larger crowd. Events have been held at the TPepin's Hospitality Centre in Tampa and at The Regent in Riverivew.

This year, though, to keep costs down and to capture more of the proceeds, Center Place officials and volunteers decided to keep things simple and "bring it back home."

"I'm really excited to have it back here," Center Place Executive Director Dawn Gailia said. "A lot of people who come to the gala may never have stepped foot in Center Place, so to be able to showcase our building and what we are able to do with it is important."

Center Place shares space with the Brandon Regional Library in the Sandy Rodriguez Center, at 619 Vonderburg Drive in Brandon.

"Our silent auction supposedly is the best in town so we're all pretty proud of it. We wouldn't be able to do it without our community support," Galia added. "This year we have about 125 different baskets, with multiple items in each basket, and some baskets have three to four gift certificates donated by area businesses."

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Click through the photos to see the handiwork of volunteers who both collected the donated items and put them together in colorful, themed packages. 

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