Stillwater's “Great Outdoors” tricky tray is great success

BY LAURIE GORDON
STILLWATER — Friday night's tricky tray, entitled “The Great Outdoors,” was the the culmination of many months of hard work by its coordinators. With tables sold out days before, and the Stillwater School gymnasium packed, it was even a bigger success than expected.
The tricky tray is the number one fundraiser for The Stillwater Township Elementary School's Parent Teacher Association. After it took year hiatus, two determined friends brought it back last year. This was Karyn Carter and Christine Bello's second year at the helm, and the tricky tray featured four different prize tiers, a mystery prize and 50/50 raffle. Trays start at a $50 value and go up from there.
"The Stillwater tricky tray has become a baby to me,” Bello said. “I have so much passion and drive to make it as successful as it can possibly be!" "I do it to benefit the children so that they can have a thriving academic experience at school. Without Karyn Carter, one of my best friends, I'd be lost, we are truly a dynamic duo together.”
“Most people don't know in order to make this event the best possible and that we literally start planning in the summer or earlier,” Carter said. “Last year was our first year planning an event like this and I think we were both surprised at the turnout and the feedback we received after the event. We have taken in the comments and hope that the changes we made will make this year's event better. This year we decided that the theme would be 'The Great Outdoors,' and we would use the tagline that 'The Stillwater tricky tray is bigger than The Great Outdoors'"
"We are all so appreciative of the work that Christy and Karen do each year for this event," said Vicki Yanaga, the treasurer of the PTA's Board of Directors. "We appreciate everyone who helped as it takes many hands behind the scenes to make sure the event runs smoothly." Financials are not in yet but Yanaga said, "We did very well with this event."
"Our supporters have really embraced the theme and we have amazing prizes,” Carter said. “We had everything from fishing poles and camping gear to a canoe and everything in between. In addition to the outdoorsy stuff there were some Frozen trays, Legos, home decor and more. We could not be more excited about the success of our second tricky tray.”