Hosted by none other than senior Riley Banks, the date auction was put on again by Walpole High Student Council (StuCo). This year, the date auction was held in the auditorium with 15 total seniors being auctioned off for a pizza dinner date in the library.
Starting off the night was Tom Blau Maor, who walked out to “Sexy Back” and was eventually bought by Billy Killeen. Next up, Kelly Kauranen used her StuCO bucks to go on a library date with Kayla Connolly. The third senior of the night to walk across the stage was Ryan Conlon, who entered to the song “Mr. Brightside” and scored a date bought by Emily Curtis. For a whopping 14,000 StuCo bucks, Sam Byrne got to enjoy a meal with Ellen Irmiter, who dressed in her typical speech team outfit, a pencil skirt and blouse.
Throughout the night, a live feed displayed the dates as they were occurring in the library, the first feed showing Blau Maor and Killeen enjoying their pizza in the school library.
Surpassing the previous highest bid of the night, Lindsey Ganshirt bought Kyle Hirshom for 17,000 StuCo bucks. Next, dancing their way on stage were Lena Astarjian and Emily Butler as a pair. While throwing candy got the audience excited, it was Tyler Edouard who was whisked away off stage with Butler’s boa around his neck.
Next up was Aidan Chariton who walked off to the library with junior Dalton Connolly. Another pair of seniors, Brett Lavanchy and Danny O’Leary, went on a double date with junior Michael Connolly and senior Patrick Lanahan.
Dana Demartino used her German heritage to her advantage. Sporting a traditional dirndl and a pretzel, she walked off with Conor McMahon, Kathryn O’Shaughnessy and Hannah Perkins.
“Who Let the Dogs Out” was a perfect opener for Savannah Moore, Nadine Chamoun and Chamoun’s puppy Ace. Jake Donahue and Diego Doronsorro used their 30,000 StuCo to buy a date with the three.
Tied for the highest bid of the night, Ethan Fontanez joined the other couples with both sophomore Sophia Pacella and junior Meghan Hamilton.
Last but not least, to close out the night, was Tara Gordon strutting down the red carpet, crown and flowers in hand, who left the stage with Miguel Perpiñan Matos who payed 50,000 StuCo bucks and finally won a date after bidding on previous seniors.
The auction may have been short, but at least these seniors were able to have a Valentine’s Day date.
“I thought [the date auction] went well. Riley and the seniors getting auctioned did a great job making it a fun night,” StuCo chair of the Date Auction, Christine Murray, said.
Written/ Alex Rodia
Photos/ Caroline Pitman
