Year of France Gala

Last Saturday I volunteered once again at my school's annual country of the year gala. On the Tuesday before, all the gala volunteers met in the art room during lunch to prepare with the gala's organizers, Ms. Kozah and Ms. Poirot. We were given a very detailed packet of our duties and the timeline for the gala. It was good to be able to go over it and ask questions once before the actual event. I found out that I was going to be a greeter and  "table expert" for the health table and beauty/apparel table. Everything was prepared very well.
Instead of wearing traditional dress from the country of the year like last year, we were asked to wear black dresses and berets.
The day of the gala I was rushing to go get shoes and tights the hour before I arrived. Luckily I wasn't late and was the fourth person to arrive. I was very relieved. We then went into the auction room to familiarize ourselves with the items. Once people began arriving, my partner and I went to the front doors to greet and direct guests to the auction room for around an hour and a half. Once the auction room was cleared out, we started packing up the items that had been sold with bags from underneath the table. This procedure was designed to make the process of checking out much quicker and less hectic than it was the year before. Afterwards, we sold "treasure boxes" to the guests dining. The treasure boxes held surprise gifts inside and were all sold very quickly. When we were done all the student volunteers had dinner in an empty room and then came back out to help with the checkout. Unfortunately, a few of the items stickers had gone missing and  the numbering system didn't completely make sense but overall it wasn't too bad and I'm told that it was much better than last year. Checkout being closed, all the students went out for pictures and a few minutes of dancing before we left, which was  a wonderful conclusion to the night. Oh, and just as we were leaving, Mrs. Poirot gave my friend and me a little boxes of chocolates in appreciation, which I certainly did appreciate and tasted right away. (Thank you Mrs. Poirot!)
I hope that my presence at the gala helped make it go more smoothly. I was very happy to be there and enjoyed volunteering. I have to say that I was very impressed with the organization of the gala and also the decor for the dining room. There were trellises bordering all sides and mini lampposts on each table. Best of all, I loved the gorgeous mural of the Eiffel Tower that was used as a background for the stage. I'm glad I  was able to participate in the gala for two years in a row and I'm sure each gala my school holds will be better than the last.