Date set for Gov. Palin's Lubbock fundraiser

*
The Avalance-Journal has more details in its Thursday edition about Lubbock Christian School’s annual fundraiser, where Gov. Palin will be the featured speaker and appear at a reception. The date of Jan. 24 has been chosen for the event, which will be held at the Lubbock Memorial Civic Center:

More than half of the approximately 1,400 tickets for the event have already been sold to corporate sponsors, said Peter Dahlstrom, Lubbock Christian School superintendent, at a Wednesday news conference.

Tickets are sold in groups of 10 on several levels, ranging from $2,000 for 10 tickets on the lowest level to $25,000 for 10 tickets at the highest level. Higher-level tickets will be closer to the stage for Palin’s speech and will include posing for a picture with Palin at the reception before the speech.

School officials don’t foresee selling individual tickets, Dahlstrom said. Ticket information can be obtained by calling the school at 796-8700 and asking for development.

[...]

Stephen Warren, development director of Lubbock Christian School... came up with the idea to invite Palin during a spring committee meeting about the fundraiser, Dahlstrom said. Responses ranged from those who thought it would be impossible to get her to those who thought Warren was joking, he said.

Brian Pitaniello, chairman of the Lubbock Christian School board of trustees, said there was a lot of discussion among board members about the proposal to bring Palin to Lubbock, but it was an easy decision to make in the end.

The board members asked themselves if it was in line with the values of the school and where they wanted the school to go, Pitaniello said, and they had confidence in the school administrators who were excited about having Palin as a speaker and were confident they could pull it off.

Few people create more buzz, good and bad, than Palin, he said. People want to hear what she has to say, and she has a lot of followers, Pitaniello said.

“She appears to carry the values she speaks of,” he said.

Dahlstrom said that the school is bringing in Gov. Palin for her energy and excitement. He added that this is the first opportunity the board has had "to bring in a person of national prominence and such current relevance." The most famous person to speak at an LCS fundraiser was former Dallas cowboys coach Tom Landry in 1985.

- JP