FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, August 19, 2022
Contact: Heidi Hagemeier, director of communications, 541-382-4754 ext. 166, hhagemeier@highdesertmuseum.org
High Desert Rendezvous Offers One-of-a-Kind Packages in Online Silent Auction
Signature fundraiser helps support Museum educational programs
BEND, OR — For the first time since 2019, the High Desert Museum’s signature fundraiser, High Desert Rendezvous, will take place in person at the Museum on Saturday, August 27. Tickets for the gala are sold out but everyone can participate in the online silent auction and raffles.
The silent auction opens today, Friday, August 19, at 9:00 am online and is available to all. Auction items vary from a getaway at the Headlands Coastal Lodge and Spa in Pacific City to courtside Portland Trailblazers tickets to front row seats at the 112th Pendleton Round-Up. Find the bidding portal at hdm2022.ggo.bid. Online bidding ends on Monday, August 29 at 12:00 pm.
Tickets are also on sale now for two raffle prizes at highdesertmuseum.org/hdr. The first Rendezvous raffle features a $3,000 gift certificate to La-Z-Boy Furniture Galleries redeemable at the Bend or Medford locations. Raffle tickets are $20 each and a maximum of 750 will be sold.
The second raffle prize is a trip to Las Vegas for a four-night stay at the JW Marriott Las Vegas Resort and Spa to attend the RiSE Festival on October 8, 2022. The package includes lodging, six tickets to the festival, four tickets to The Neon Museum and a $300 gift card to Esther’s Kitchen Vegas. Tickets are $100 each and a maximum of 150 will be sold.
Online raffle ticket sales close on Friday, August 26 at 5:00 pm. In-person ticket purchases will be available at the High Desert Museum Admissions desk on Saturday, August 27 from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm. Raffle tickets will continue to be sold in person at the High Desert Rendezvous on Saturday, August 27 and will end at 7:00 pm. The raffle drawing will take place at the event. The winners need not be present to win and will be notified by email and phone.
“It’s heartening to see our community come together at Rendezvous to support our educational programs,” said Museum Executive Director Dana Whitelaw, Ph.D. “We are excited the fundraiser has evolved to include our community outside the Rendezvous tent walls with the online silent auction and raffle.”
Rendezvous is also a chance to bid on art by traditional and contemporary artists in the juried exhibition and silent auction Art in the West, open now at the Museum. A gallery guide of the artwork in the exhibition is available at the Museum’s website at highdesertmuseum.org/aiw.
The 2022 Rendezvous Honoree is Cameron Kerr. The wife of Museum founder Don Kerr and a self-described “lifetime volunteer,” she has been an active and stalwart supporter since the institution opened in 1982. Today, she is a Museum Trustee and Collections Committee Chair, and she can be seen regularly in the Museum’s collections department helping volunteers and supporting staff.
This marks the 33rd year of the High Desert Rendezvous, making it one of the longest-running fundraisers in Central Oregon. Rendezvous helps support the Museum’s educational programs, serving children and lifelong learners throughout Central Oregon and beyond.
The 33rd annual High Desert Rendezvous is presented by First Interstate Bank.
Learn more about and register for the High Desert Rendezvous at highdesertmuseum.org/hdr.
ABOUT THE MUSEUM:
THE HIGH DESERT MUSEUM opened in Bend, Oregon in 1982. It brings together wildlife, cultures, art, history and the natural world to convey the wonder of North America’s High Desert. The Museum is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization accredited by the American Alliance of Museums, is a Smithsonian Affiliate, was the 2019 recipient of the Western Museums Association’s Charles Redd Award for Exhibition Excellence and was a 2021 recipient of the National Medal for Museum and Library Service. To learn more, visit highdesertmuseum.org and follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
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