Sound Experience Raises $153,000 at Annual Gala
The nonprofit organization Sound Experience held its 8th annual fundraising event “Party for the Adventuress” in the Seattle Design Center on October 7, 2017. The record-setting event was attended by 280 guests and raised $153,000 to support the youth education and environmental stewardship facilitated aboard the tallship Adventuress.
The formal affair included both silent and live auctions, as well as audience participation events with prizes. Items auctioned ranged from Northwest wine baskets to various nautical-themed experiences with local companies. Volunteers and program participants alike shared stories of experiences aboard the Adventuress throughout the night. King 5’s Stephen Kilbreath, a morning radio show host, was the lead auctioneer and kept the night lively.
Sound Experience aboard the historic schooner Adventuress, Washington’s official educational tallship, often touts its mission statement to “educate, inspire, and empower an inclusive community that works to improve our marine environment and celebrates our maritime heritage.” To this end, many programs are offered that include all-women multiday excursions, youth marine science experiences, and maritime trades workshops. With the motto “We are all shipmates,” the goals of Sound Experience emphasize diversity and inclusivity in all that they do. Aboard, a unique culture prevails, one that adheres to a vegan diet and sings songs instead of setting alarms clocks for the early morning shifts. The largely volunteer crew is often made up of locals who remember seeing the Adventuress sail past when they were kids, and they take great pride in continuing the Adventuress tradition to the next generation.
The history of the Adventuress is also a fascinating story unto itself rich in local lore. From a maiden voyage to the Arctic with Roy Chapman Andrews (the inspiration for Indiana Jones) to secure a bowhead whale specimen to a stint with the San Francisco Bar Pilots, the Adventuress ultimately was saved from becoming derelict by a number of champions over the decades, including the Girl Scouts of America. Today the tallship is an iconic sight on Puget Sound waters, and with the generous backing of her supporters through events like this recent fundraiser, she will continue to inspire for the foreseeable future.
