From Sandra Lonnquist, President/CEO of the Palo Alto Chamber
Sunny- you should be most pleased......I hope the results of the event are to your expectations - it looked beautiful, there was a good crowd who seemed to be enjoying the variety of entertainment your committee provided.
Well done and have an excellent vacation!
From Jim Burch, 2004 Mayor, City of Palo Alto:
Dear Sunny and Dan,
The Black and White Ball this year was absolutely the best ever. The food, the music, the people, the lights, and the location, location, location. Obviously, the Lucie Stern Community Center is the perfect place to hold it... and I hope you will every year!
Thank you so much for all your hard work to make it a great success.
From Matt Passell and Al Russell, Partners in Education (PAFE/ASF):
Dear Editor,
On behalf of the Partners In Education campaign, we would like to thank Sunny Dykwel, and the team of volunteers and sponsors who worked together to put on the Palo Alto Black and White Ball. Partners in Education is the joint venture of the merging Palo Alto Foundation for Education (PAFE) and the All Schools Fund (ASF). The event was yet another example of the special community that is Palo Alto. The vision and energy of these volunteers resulted in a fantastic event. We enjoyed a thoroughly magical evening with delicious cuisine and inspiring music in our beautifully decorated community center, and knowing that the proceeds would benefit our children warmed our hearts from start to finish.
The well attended event demonstrated the generosity and passion for education in our community. The students in the Palo Alto Unified School District will greatly benefit from your generous donation.
Thanks again for a wonderful evening and for the generous donation to our fundraising campaign.
From Shia Geminder, Special Events/Facilities Manager for the City of Palo Alto Recreation:
On behalf of City of Palo Alto Recreation, I want to congratulate each and every one of you on the tremendous success of the Black & White Ball. It has truly been a pleasure working with all of you the past 10 months. You all should be commended for your dedication to this wonderful community in which you live. The amount of time and energy you put into it is truly reflected in the success of the Ball. We have heard nothing but praise and positive comments.
With that said, I toast you all! Cheers!
From Kate Hill:
What a blast! What a team! What a sense of community! What a thoroughly enjoyable event!
Handing out gift bags is a highly under-rated job. People were so thrilled to get something to take home. Some were genuinely surprised that we gave one to each guest, some said, "Wine??? AND Coffee???", some said. "Really? For me?" And the bicep-building alone is cause to tout this volunteer job as the best thing going...!
Seriously, I have been told over and over how fun it was. People brought their stuffy in-laws from New England who marvelled at the entire shebang and refused to leave til there was no more music; teachers, admins, everyone so happy to have it back "home" at Stern even though they didn't recognize the place. My favorite transformation was the Scout Room, where I sent my scout-leader spouse to marvel at the place. He thought it was quite an improvement!
'nough said – y'all are the best. A true and complete joy to have met and worked with you.
From Colleen Foraker:
Sunny,
Thank you so much for all your great work on the Black and White Ball! It was a huge success. We really enjoyed it and even ran into people we had not seen in years.