As Loretto celebrates its 100th anniversary, a Gala was commemorated in honor of its alumnae, current members, and students who have made Loretto the community it stands as today.
The highly anticipated celebration was held at EPIC Railyard Event Center at 7:00 pm on February 3, 2024, where formal dinner and a lively auction occurred.
Alumnae and other Loretto affiliated individuals filled the event center with talking, laughter, and tears as many of the alumni were able to catch up and recall memories from back when they attended Loretto Academy.
Cocktail Party
Before the dinner took place, a short cocktail party provided the opportunity to participate in a silent auction and bid on prizes such as jewelry, paintings, and religious crosses.
Live, local music encouraged guests to dance, and a photographer snapped photos of all the guests enjoying their time before the dinner.
Of the 400 guests who attended the event 300 of them were Loretto alumnae.
Select Loretto students, most of whom are in student government, attended the gala and were asked to walk around the cocktail party and talk to the honored guests.
The students were asked to wear their uniforms in order to show the guest how the uniforms have evolved over the year but to also make them easier to spot when alumni wished to ask them any questions about the school.
Junior class president, Brianna Farish said, “Attending the Gala was an amazing opportunity because I got to meet a lot of alumni and hear different perspectives on how they experienced Loretto.
I overall just felt really embraced by all the sisterhood.”
Dinner is served
As the cocktail party concluded, the guests made their way to eat dinner at their selected tables.
The cost for a table was $1,500 each, the table sat 10 guests and included two bottles of wine and a full course meal.
While dinner was being served a video was played that interviewed many of Loretto’s past teachers.
Pure joy was seen in the reactions from many of the previous students as they celebrated their former teachers.
The Dean of Students, also a Loretto alumna, said, “From the graduating class of 1981 there were 12 alumni who attended.
It was really nice to see so many faces I hadn’t seen in a longtime.
The Gala was beautiful and very well done.”
As the dinner concluded all the alumnae were asked to stand and scream out the Loretto Senior Chant!
Although it wasn’t perfectly in sync, hearing the group of women unit was extraordinary.
Live Auction
The live auction took place right after dinner concluded, funds were raised in order to support a variety of areas at Loretto, such as the ongoing elevator project.
Prizes such as “Backyard Barbecue with Sister Buffy” and “Trip to the Mother House” were all bid on by participating guests.
The auction was led by KTSM Co-Anchor Monica Cortez and Loretto staff member Rose Lucero.
The auction encouraged many guests to donate and was an overall success.
After party
After dinner, what once was the cocktail room had transformed into a disco celebration that had a DJ and disco ball inviting guests to dance.
Loretto alumna, class of 1987, Laura Odell said, “The Gala allowed me to connect with a lot of my friends and family.
It was also a great opportunity to raise money for our beloved Loretto.”
The gala was an overall success as it related in money for the school but also allowed for a great time for friends to reconnect.
As the centennial year at Loretto comes to a close, Loretto looks forward to another 100 years of celebrating the sisterhood and community held so close to many people’s hearts.