Yet again, the Thunder Pageant returned and this year with record breaking totals. The group raised $110,000 for Juliet, our current Sparrow. But this year brought a few changes to the event; because the competition was so close, there were no cuts.
Each year, many Bend-La Pine Schools partner with Sparrow Clubs USA, a nonprofit group dedicated to raising money for kids with medical needs and their families. Summit has partnered with Juliet who, at 16 months, was diagnosed with a type of cancer known as B-cell lymphoblastic leukemia. The largest fundraiser that Summit offers is the Thunder Pageant, where teams of two compete to raise money for their Sparrow.
In the past, there has been a cut issued on Jan. 1 depending on how much money each couple has fundraised. The cut usually narrows the competition down to just ten couples but this year, sixteen have continued through the pageant.
According to Summit senior and pageant contestant Nick Leary, this year’s senior class has had increased levels of motivation.
“We’re all really motivated to reach out to businesses but also reach out to friends and family, to [ask] for donations,” said Leary.
Eliminating the cuts allowed for much more community and collaboration between teams.
“The cuts are a way to motivate us in the beginning, but once that was taken away, we were all able to just come together,” said Quinn Raynack, a senior and Thunder Pageant competitor.
One Thunder tradition is the “wake up video.” To make the video, Student Council members go to the couples’ houses in the middle of the night (after getting permission from their parents) and film them. In the past, contestants have been given challenges such as “can you sing us a song?” and asked questions like “where was your first kiss?” and “why did you decide to join the Thunder Pageant?”
However, the increase in the number of participants proved to be a challenge for Student Council members, including senior Sonora Benavides, who was in charge of the wake up video this year.
Because there were so many contestants, Student Council opted to organize “crews” of people who were close with the people they had to wake up.
“I think we did like seventeen houses in one night with four different crews,” said Benavides.
The increase in numbers also impacted practicing the group dance that was performed both at the assembly and to kick off the Thunder Pageant show.
“The hard thing is with our group dance, we usually take time to highlight each individual couple, but because there are so many people, we weren’t able to do that,” said Leary. “And it makes it a little bit more chaotic when we’re trying to practice.”
But overall, contestants agreed that despite the added chaos, their increased numbers allowed them to raise a record breaking amount of money for Juliet.
“My favorite part so far has been seeing all of the town come together for Juliet,” said Raynack. “Whether that be just hanging up posters or doing a fundraiser or making a social media post, there has been so much traction and it has been a beautiful thing.”
While the event is a competition, it also creates a community.
“We decided it was just one big celebration instead of a competition,” said Ms. Brines, the advisor for Student Council.
Despite the event’s added chaos, the fundraiser proved to be an immense success. And so, on Mar. 19, friends, family and fellow students gathered to celebrate not only the senior’s efforts but also the money that will go to help Juliet and her family.
To open the night, the Sparrow video played and Juliet’s parents described how thankful they were for the support from their newfound community. On stage, Juliet received an elephant stuffed animal almost bigger than her, reminding the audience who this was all for.
Next the event shifted and the couples took the stage to show their talents. With an increase in couples, there were more group talents than usual but it did nothing to take away from the audience’s enjoyment.
Sawyer Crocker and Cutler Hobin won for best talent after they performed a testament to “Blades of Glory” as fire and ice.
The overall winners for most money raised were Ethan Lynch and Caroline Hicks. The couple raised upwards of $16,000 and partnered with over 60 corporate businesses to take home the title.
Because of this group of seniors’ high motivation and their increase in numbers, the group raised a tremendous amount of money for Juliet, changing her and her family’s lives.
