Cotillion Cake Auction generates $5k

The 2nd Annual Cake Auction to benefit the Nye County Cotillion took place this past Saturday and though event organizers said attendance wasn’t as strong as they would have liked, those that did take part more than made up for the lack of a large crowd.

“Well, we didn’t have a lot of people, maybe about 28 or so, but we made over $5,000,” Shirley Molenda told the Pahrump Valley Times afterward.

She and her daughter Leslie Molenda headed up the auction, with Shirley focusing on recruiting cake donations while Leslie concentrated on collecting donations from area businesses.

Shirley said they were both delighted to be able to help raise funds for the Nye County Cotillion, which is a program they very much admire.

Through cotillion, nominated fourth-grade students at JG Johnson are being taught valuable life lessons in politeness, etiquette, ballroom dance and more, giving them a sense of self-confidence that will undoubtedly serve their future success.

To celebrate all their accomplishments over the past few months, those students will have their own formal cotillion in May. The money raised at the cake auction will help pay for the expense of hosting the cotillion as well as supporting the overall program.

“We had about eight or 10 buyers who really bought a lot of cakes and we really appreciated them. We had somewhere around 65-70 cakes and Leslie did an amazing job with getting businesses to donate to the cause, so we had all kinds of donations we were able to use for a raffle,” Shirley detailed. “So I think it went really well for what we had.”

The event included a kids’ cake decorating contest, too, which drew several competitors but Shirley said unfortunately, some of the youngsters were not in attendance and didn’t provide their names, making recognition of their efforts difficult.

“I think what we’re going to do next year is, make sure the kids stay for pictures,” Shirley explained, adding that event organizers are working toward identifying those children whose cakes won an award so they can receive their prize.

Shirley said Leslie will be drafting a thank-you letter to all those who helped with and donated to the cake auction, too, so readers can look for that in an upcoming edition of the Times.

As to the future, Shirley and Leslie have every intention of repeating the cake auction next year. Plans are already in the works to expand the event, with Shirley noting that this could include some kind of donation dinner to accompany the cake auction and potentially even entertainment from the students participating in the cotillion program.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com