2006 Jubilee of Religious Life honors four sisters

Intermountain Catholic

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At left, bartenders guard their post overlooking downtown Salt Lake City from the 23rd floor of the Wells Fargo Building. IC photos by Christopher Gray

SALT LAKE CITY — Priests with guns, women with cigarette holders, and free hooch at the bar: the only thing missing from Sweet Madeleine’s Speakeasy May 6 on the 23rd floor of the Wells Fargo Building in downtown Salt Lake City was a film noir plot.

The 10th annual Madeleine Choir School fund raising auction was given a Depression-era speakeasy theme following in the tradition of "fun" fund raisers. According to sable-clad Madeleine Choir School Director of Community Relations Trish Wesson, "People know we are the party auction."

School Director Gregory "The Kingpin" Glenn wanted to keep an emphasis on fun in 1996 at the first dinner auction. "We realized that in order to make this institution viable we needed the support of the community. We set out from the very first auction to have a fund raiser that would be fun – that people would enjoy rather than the starched-shirt rubber-chicken dinners everyone has to go to in hotel ballrooms."

Proceeds from the auction, featuring items and services donated both by members of the community and classes from the school, support scholarships and operating expenses. "We’re dedicated to helping young people and giving them an experience of the arts, and there are people in the community who want to see we are successful," said Glenn.