Altamont Summer Enrichment Camp

Advent’s relationship with The Altamont School goes back a long way and borders on the familial. We have several children of Altamont teachers attending our school, as Advent prepares them for the challenges and rewards of more advanced learning and growing. We were thrilled when Advent alum, now Altamont teacher Buck Crowe (also Mrs. Peters’ brother) crafted this lot—a three-week summer enrichment course for rising 5th-8th graders. Take classes in English, math, photography, drama (Shakespeare), and sports and link the learning of the school year with a summer of adventure.

Note:
– Photography students must bring a digital camera.

What We Love About This Auction Item: Kids get firsthand experience of a high school and a chance to learn for the fun of it, choosing subjects to study rather than following the required curriculum—it’s their first look at the choices of high school and college!
Value: $1,100

Win a Birthday Party at Birmingham Fencing Club

Birmingham has one of the finest fencing programs in the country thanks to two world-class coaches who brought their skills to the Birmingham Fencing Club just over 14 years ago. Olympic medalist Hongyun Sun and international medalist and Olympic referee Yuanjing Wang, both of whom served as Chinese National Team coaches before coming here, now train Birmingham-area youth fencers to compete at the national and international levels. If you haven’t visited the club and tried out one of their free fencing sessions (second Saturday of each month!), give your son or daughter a thrill by hosting his or her next Birthday Party at the club. The party includes a brief demonstration and explanation of the sport. After this introduction, your child and up to nine friends will be outfitted with a fencing uniform and then get to fence, under the supervision of qualified instructors, using an Olympic fencing saber. Your child will never forget this birthday experience!

Notes:
– Parties last two hours and must be held on Saturdays after 1:30 p.m.
– All equipment is provided by the Birmingham Fencing Club.
– Ten children are included in this package. Each additional child is $10.
– BFC not responsible for cakes or other refreshments.
– Fencing time lasts approximately one hour.
– Recommended for ages 6 and up.

What We Love About This Auction Item: Fencing can be a fantastic, lifelong sport for girls and boys. At the 2007 USFA Summer National tournament, the youngest fencer was 6; the oldest, 88. A number of Advent students have gone on to great fencing acclaim through their participation in the club.
Value: $125

Give Body Fat the Boot! Boot Camp, That Is…

Sometimes it’s hard to find the perfect workout routine—one that we enjoy and stick with long enough to see improvements in our health and fitness level. Boot camps combine cardio, strength, and agility training to help you lose weight, build muscle, and gain endurance. Here’s a great chance to try out one (or two!) Birmingham-area boot camps to discover which is right for you. Both local companies—Studio Fitness and Every Girl Fitness—accommodate women of all fitness levels and work to help you make positive, permanent lifestyle changes. With each of these offers, you’ll get a month of unlimited boot camps.

Every Girl Fitness
This faith-based company runs boot camps led by certified personal trainers at locations throughout Birmingham. One-hour workouts vary day to day. (You may recognize a familiar face in the photo below: Advent mom Donie Carlson [at left, smiling at camera] does these boot camps, as does former Advent mom Mary Yancey.)

Value: $200

Studio Fitness
This private, personal training studio in Homewood offers one-hour Boxing Boot Camp sessions five days a week for intense body toning, fat melting, and calorie burning. “Haley’s boot camp and boxing are always packed,” says Advent Co-Chair Julie Bryant. “And it’s all ages, which makes it appealing for me!”

Value: $200

What We Love About These Auction Items: Trying out these boot camps for a month gives you a chance to find an exercise program that you’ll be ready to commit to.

Misty Morning on the Fuel Docks

Maritime artist Don Scafidi (b. 1928) is known for his meticulous attention to the lines and sails, hulls and tillers in every one of his paintings. Advent has a few of his portraits of ships and schooners, but it is his atmospheric painting of a Misty Morning on the Fuel Docks, donated by Leah and Lee McGriff, that has captivated each one of us who has come in contact with his work. Mostly self taught, Scafidi really learned his craft as Pier Superintendent of New York City, U.S. delegate to NATO, and marine ship commander. Now a resident of Louisiana, Scafidi has spent 27 years translating a lifetime of experience on the water onto the painted canvas.

What We Love About This Auction Item: Most of Scafidi’s paintings show the boats on the open water, in their natural habitat, transported over the waves. This painting has a stillness and quiet that resonates whether you live on land or by water.
Estimated Value: $8,000

Classic Chrome Bath Accessories from Kenny and Co.

12″ Glass Shelf and Towel Rod

Double Hook

24″ Glass Shelf

New fixtures can give your bath a whole new look without breaking the bank. The simple, clean lines of these three products from the Kubic collection by Ginger, donated by Kenny & Company of Birmingham, will add instant appeal to any decor. This set includes a 12″ Glass Shelf and Towel Rod, a 24″ Glass Shelf, and a Double Hook, all in polished chrome. Watch for them in Lot 3/Super Silent (live auction-worthy items!) on March 2.

What We Love About This Auction Item: High-quality chrome is a classic choice that blends seamlessly with any personal style.
Value: $600

Update Your Garden with a Pair of Elegant Urns

With spring just around the corner, now is the time to liven up that dull porch or entryway with a pair of beautiful Crestline Urns in French Wax from Elegant Earth. Place them on either side of your front door, or use them to mark the entrance to your garden or courtyard. Their rustic beauty makes them look as if they have been there for years. Not sure what plants to use? No worries—Sweet Peas Garden Shop has thrown in a $50 gift certificate for planting.

What We Love About This Auction Item: A pair of planters—with just the right combination of flowers and plants—adds symmetry, color, and style to any entrance.
Value: $300

Pat Sullivan Signed Football

Think of the kids at Advent: They are all scholar-athletes to different degrees, which is what makes this autographed football from former winning Auburn quarterback, 1971 Heisman trophy winner, and Academic All American Pat Sullivan so special to us. Donated by Samford University Athletics (and obtained by Advent dad and Samford Professor Michael Hogue), the football, which was signed by Samford Coach Pat Sullivan himself, is, in Michael’s words: “a great opportunity to own a piece of sports memorabilia signed by a legend of football!”

What We Love About This Auction Item: It’s every kid’s dream: to have a piece of sports memorabilia signed by a great athlete. This football, signed by a star quarterback, former pro football player, coach of a Birmingham football team, is something to hold onto forever. Win this ball, then purchase season tickets to Samford football and see Coach Sullivan in action.
Value: $125

Volleyball Camp at Samford

Your daughter has seen the 7th and 8th grade volleyball players in action, and she wants to play too. A great introduction for a novice (or a more seasoned veteran) is the Dex Schroeder Volleyball Camp at Samford. Even high schoolers can get training in serving, setting, or hitting, for example. Camp attendees receive instruction from Dex Schroeder, Samford’s coach, as well as from Samford students. It’s a fun, informative camp that will teach the girls and totally entertain them.

As an FYI, the letter from Samford entitles the winning bidder to one complimentary registration to a specific individual volleyball camp. Click here to see the diverse offerings. Says Advent Dad and Samford Professor Michael Hogue: “Coach Dex’s camps fill up very quickly, and he is definitely one of the most recognized and winning volleyball coaches in the Southern Conference and in Alabama.”

What We Love About This Auction Item: Coach Dex was personally involved in crafting the donation to Advent. He knows us and our commitment to the sport.
Says Advent 4th grader Cece Guyader: “I love volleyball, and it was so fun at the camp last summer!! I can’t wait to go back!!”
Estimated Value: $150 to $250

Two Shots at Heather Swanner Photography: Custom Photos + Holiday Photo Package

     

Photographer and Advent mom Heather Swanner took her first photos as a girl. Using her dad’s Polaroid, she snapped pictures of her cat, Pepper, propped against carpet squares and her dachsund, Gretchen, dressed in hats. It was years later that she rediscovered her love of photography when she stepped into a darkroom and saw her first black-and-white photograph transform from blank paper into a piece of art. Since then she has photographed her own children and the children of dozens of families throughout the Southeast. Her style? She describes it as a mix of “vintage and modern, serious and silly, classic but non-traditional.” (For more samples of her beautiful work, click here.)  “Some of the best photographs come from the most unexpected moments,” she says. At Advent Auction 2013, you have two great chances to win a photo session with Heather:

Heather Swanner Photo Session
Let Heather capture photos of your children or the whole family through a special one- to two-hour, custom photo session. With this package, you get to choose a studio or location session for up to five people with two 16″ x 20″ fine art canvases.

Value: $1,000

Holiday Photo Package
This package includes a 30-minute mini-session, on location, in 2013 for up to five people with 10-15 digital files on a disk to print as your heart desires! As an added bonus with this offer, Advent mom Regina Ammon (whose gorgeous handwriting will make you wonder where you were the day they taught penmanship) will address up to 300 envelopes for you. A wonderful way to help take the “hectic” out of the holidays!

Note: 
– Holiday photo session must be booked by Sept. 15, 2013, to ensure availability.

Value: $600

Says Heather Swanner: “When my own children were born, I fell in love with photography on a whole different level. Realizing how quickly they blossom and grow, I wanted to capture as many memories of them as I possibly could…. As a mother, I understand the desire to stop time to cherish the fleeting memories created by your child. My goal is to create images of your children that are not only beautiful, but that also preserve a moment in time.”

Private, Family-Friendly Tour of African, Native American, and Pre-Columbian Art at BMA

Cradleboard
Kiowa people, or possibly Comanche people, about 1850-1870
Courtesy of Birmingham Museum of Art

Queen of Women Mask (Eze Nwanyi) Northeastern Igbo people, Nigeria (Ezza or Izzi sub-group), 2009.3
Courtesy of Birmingham Museum of Art

Take your family or guests on a private, curator-led tour of the African, Native American, and Pre-Columbian galleries at the Birmingham Museum of Art. As part of this family-friendly tour, Emily Hanna, Curator of the Arts of Africa and the Americas, will explain works of art such as an African mask, a Native American raven rattle, and an Aztec ceremonial sculpture. An annual membership and a gift card to Oscar’s at the Museum are included in this fabulous package.

What We Love About This Auction Item: This is a wonderful opportunity for your child(ren) to get an up-close and personal look at some of the most fascinating artworks at our dynamic museum.
Estimated Value: $250