With a championship trophy in hand, the Maple Grove High School dance team is ready to jump into a new season. To lead things off, the team is hosting its annual Taste of Maple Grove Festival in an effort to raise funds for this growing powerhouse.
This year’s event will take place on September 19 at the Maple Grove Community Center, and will include many of the attractions that have made this fundraiser so popular in years past. Among the many draws of the event is an open cash bar, wine and craft beer tasting, local restaurant samplings, a silent auction with more than 75 baskets to bid on, a dance floor, music on the patio, a full wine rack raffle with more than 40 bottles included and much more.
Due to its booming past popularity, the infamous “Heads or Tails” game will return for this year’s celebration. Last year’s winner took home $800, with $800 going to the dance team in this split-the-pot style game.
That money, along with the other proceeds, is vital to the team’s management. The funds help to pay for costumes, coaches’ salaries, transportation and other fees that arise throughout the dance season. “This is the biggest fundraiser necessary to keeping this dance team at their level,” says Mary Feyereisen, booster club chair.
The level that Feyereisen refers to is elite, to say the least. The Maple Grove dance team won the State Jazz Championship this year, the third time in the past six years that the team has accomplished this feat.
With a record number of dancers—nearly 50—for the upcoming season, the funds from Taste of Maple Grove are more important than ever. Most of the proceeds of the event come from the silent auction baskets. “These baskets are quality items...everybody will find something that interests them,” says Feyereisen.
