What $105 Could've Bought You

At the beginning of this year I had a valiant idea. I was going to start raising funds for the cultural arts awareness in downtown Provo, specifically for our beloved Rooftop Concert Series (please come/I wish you could come) and I was going to do it holding auctions for lunches with really great Provo people on my Provo blog. Do you see where I am going here? I made a list of some of my most entertaining pals in Provo and started a calendar of monthly lunches.

The first auction? A lunch date with my own brother Christopher Clark, The resurrected Jolly Porter, himself.

As predicted there was a fury of female response. It didn't take long for the auction to get hot. To stir the pot a bit, Topher texted me and suggested he'd come to the lunch shirtless, but I wasn't aiming to make that much money on one lunch (h-h-h-h can you i-i-i-imagine?) so I let the auction run until the final day when Helen Anderson outbid the rest.

Helen Anderson. Wife, mother of four, lawyer, actress, and Provo City's Public Relations Director. She also happens to be a hero of mine. And I am not using hero modestly. I mean it.

Anyway, hosting the auction was so full of unanticipated fury and anticipation, I decided I could only handle one this year. This meant my other Provo friends were off the hook for their month. But today as we actually had the lunch I couldn't help but have remorse that we weren't going to have more. It was entertaining, enjoyable and totally worth figuring out the logistics.

Joining our festivities were Christopher's wife Lisa, Lisa's brother Christopher, and my husband Christopher, Christopher's brother in law.  Christopher is Christopher's friend and also friends to Christopher's other brother in law Christopher.

Also, Margaret, The Chief and the little pizza crust-eating devil herself, Ever Jane.

(Ever's favorite uncle is Christopher because he consistently holds her, presses his cheeks against hers and sings to her. It used to be "The Surrey with the Fringe On Top" from Oklahoma, but today it was "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley--what are you going to do? She swoons.)

And the pizza was abnormally good. As in, Slab is usually good, but today it had the curious taste of SUPER INCREDIBLE good. I like to think it was because it was pizza donated for a solid cause (and because I rarely eat things these days that pass without rejection). (Thanks Slab!)

Anyway, please don't tell the wonderful women who didn't win the lunch with Christopher, but as things turned out, Christopher didn't just lunch with Helen, he actually fed her lunch. That brother of mine, goes the distance.

 
Plus, he did it at the peril of his own marriage.

Us Clarks, we'll do anything for Provo/attention.



Thanks Helen, Topher and Slab for a swell afternoon!

P.S. speaking of PR for Provo, I really went out on a limb in my Des News column this week, it's called Hugs for Provoans. It's about the inordinate amount of excitement we've had around here lately. Jimmer anyone?