One of them, Elaine Huss, happened to be a graduate of Sioux City Heelan High School and suggested an event like one held there, called the Friends of Heelan Ball – a semi-formal dance and dinner.

When the idea was presented by Elaine and her husband, Denny Huss, and their friends Connie and John Bruner, it ran into skeptics.

“You ain’t gonna make any money out of a dance,” Denny Huss recalled several telling them. “It was all new to us. We didn’t know if we’d lose money, break even or make anything. We had more committees than you could shake a stick at, so we figured if just the committees came, we’d be OK.”

But they got the green light to press forward and after meeting Thursday nights for the next year, the first Friends of St. Edmond Ball was held April 28, 1984, at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn & Suites with the Irv Reutzel Orchestra and a band performing. Far more than just committee members showed up – 1,500 people attended, with a charge of $25 a couple, and it netted $35,000.

To date, the first 39 balls – including two held on Facebook Live in 2020 and 2021 because of COVID restrictions – have netted $7,271,150 – for the benefit of St. Edmond Catholic School from 3-year-old pre-school through 12th grade.

The success brings much satisfaction to Connie Bruner, who said, “All of us had a great appreciation for the outstanding education our children were receiving there. It was time to give back to support any needs St. Edmond could use. We prepped for months with the school’s approval and the help of so many people. It has been an honor to serve such a worthy cause. It really seemed to be a very grand thing to have the whole community come out and support something like that.”

Tonight, the 40th annual Friends of St. Edmond Ball will be held at the Best Western Starlite Village Inn & Suites and at its outset, the four founders will be honored – two of them posthumously: Elaine Huss died in 2021 and John Bruner died last August.

This year’s co-chairs are Elliot and Ashley Doster and Jeremiah and Erin Rossmanith, continuing the tradition of two couples serving as chairs.

“This year we will be having a slide show of the past ball chairs and other pictures and will present Denny and Connie with plaques for ‘planting the seeds’ of the ball,” said Susan Laufersweiler, development director for St. Edmond Catholic School. “Our theme is ‘Roots to come back to, Reasons to stay’. We also will have a tree decorated with an ornament depicting each of the Ball themes from 1 – 40.”

The ball has special meaning for Susan, who is married to Mark Laufersweiler, owner with his brother, Luke, of Laufersweiler-Sievers Funeral Home.

“The first ball that I attended was actually my first date with Mark,” she said. “It was 1999, I was 21 and he invited me to go with him. He was out of school, and I was still in college at Loras. I just drove home for the night. We got married in June of 2002 at Corpus Christi Church.”

Susan’s parents, Alyce and Mick Flaherty, were among couples who attended all 39 of the balls. Susan was 6-years -old when they attended the inaugural ball. Her mother Alyce Flaherty died this past Jan. 31, but Mick plans to be there.

Another couple with perfect attendance is Connie and Tom Miklo – attending the first nine balls as guests before he became St. Edmond development director, serving from 1993 to 2021. He had succeeded Frank Dwyer, the first St. Edmond development director, whose duties included organizational and financial oversight of the ball – a role continued by Miklo and now by Laufersweiler.

Miklo said benefits from the ball extend beyond the city’s Catholic schools:

“The non-monetary benefits are the simple coming together of the community as a whole. Fort Dodge is not a big city and like any city has its challenges, but people are remarkably generous of time, talent and treasure. St. Edmond is a vital draw for the workforce as having a second option to public education – attractive to many job applicants/candidates – and the Fort Dodge employers and Greater Growth Alliance recognize this.

“Both Iowa Central Community College and the Fort Dodge public schools have also been supporters, which has always been impressive to me. The car dealers should also be recognized for their part. They certainly don’t have to be as involved as they are, but they have been incredibly generous and easy to work with over the years, even knowing that only one dealership will get the sale.”

A car raffle has been part of the event since 1992 when it was proposed by then-St. Edmond Development Board Chairman Richard Stark. Today, the dealers that take part are Shimkat Motor Co., Fort Dodge Ford Lincoln Toyota and Kemna Auto.

“That same year, Richard also suggested having a golf outing the day prior to the ball, not so much as a fundraiser but a ‘friend’ raiser,” Miklo said. “This event continues annually also, and despite some years of cold weather, it was only cancelled once, because of six inches of snow the day before. It was moved to one week later and we played under 75-degree sunshine. You gotta love Iowa weather.”

Another means of raising money are silent and public auctions. A silent auction began in the mid-1990s when a gemstone company offered loose stones on a consignment basis; they would be offered at a price more than what was paid for them. The next year, Miklo said, “I figured we would do better with local jewelry rather than loose stones and made a consignment deal with Kirkberg Jewelry, who offered rings, necklaces, watches, etc. on the same consignment basis. Soon other retailers started to donate to the silent auction as well. Within a year or two we realized that we had the opportunity to offer bigger items and experiences that could do really well if they were auctioned live. I contacted local auctioneer Keith Dencklau who provided his services for free. I think we have been doing the live auction for 30-35 years approximately, obviously discounting the two COVID online events, and Keith has been there for them all.”

A tuition raffle followed where for $10 one could purchase a chance on winning $1,000 of Saint Edmond tuition; there are two winners. The ball held a “heads or tails” game for a number of years, has had wine and whiskey pulls (raffles) and a champagne glass/diamond raffle one year.

In the “friend raising” category, an alumni basketball tournament was begun around 2015. Participants are charged $25 to play in the tournament and all proceeds go to the St. Edmond girls and boys basketball teams.

This year, Laufersweiler said, there will be a “Wall of Money” where patrons can choose from envelopes displayed from $1 – $100 and donate that amount of money; the goal is to clear the wall. Organizers have added a “Spoil our Staff” raffle this year in which families can buy a $10 chance for a teacher of their choice to win a getaway to Minnesota complete with an excursion and dinner out and a free day off from work.

Donations are also received from a mailing to more than 7,000 – about 4,200 of whom are alumni of St. Edmond High School.

Miklo said that funds from the balls originally were used for extras or non-budgeted needs of the school as determined by the staff, administration and ball chairs.

“For example, the new bleachers in the gymnasium were a ball-funded purchase,” he said. “A lot of building improvements came from ball funds. Eventually the funds raised got to be significant and we felt assured that we could raise a set amount annually that it made sense to stop guessing about needs and just include ball funds in the budget. This helped budgeting a great deal and also assured that the true needs of the school were met. Some years the ball raised more than budgeted and then the administration was free to look at extras. Also, we found that if a cause like religion books or science chairs was added as a separate need, it could become part of the auction for those specific purposes.”

Laufersweiler added, “All the money raised at the ball goes toward the operating budget. Some years there will be a fund-a-need auction item that will help a specific area. For instance, funds were raised for new science tables and chairs at two different balls a few years ago. Last year and this year, we are raising funds for new religion books.”

One of the more memorable events from past balls happened 10 years ago, when at the 2013 ball, Neven Conrad surprised Cari Lawler by asking her to marry him in front of both their families and the entire audience in the Starlite ballroom. Fortunately, he said, she said yes.

“Tom Miklo put up a PowerPoint slide that announced Cari as the winner of some sort of scholarship and asked her to come forward,” Conrad recalled. “Then he flipped to a slide that said, ‘Cari Lawler, will you marry me?’ I came up behind her and went down on a knee with an engagement ring in hand. We were in a room full of people she knew – her parents and grandparents included – and lots of our friends, so that greatly reduced the chances she would say no. She still chastises me to this day for doing it in front of all those people.”

Cari and Neven – both St. Edmond graduates – were married later that year at Corpus Christi Church and today are parents of five children. She is director of assisted living at Friendship Haven and he operates a law practice in Fort Dodge, and also serves as Humboldt County magistrate.

Monsignor Kevin McCoy, pastor of Holy Trinity Parish, said that in his 15 years of ministry in Webster County, “I’ve witnessed how true is the theme of this year’s St. Edmond Ball ‘Roots to come back to, reasons to stay.’

“Every year I’ve encountered numerous alumni at this annual event who are proud of their roots in the intellectual and spiritual formation St. Edmond has afforded them. Their loyalty and their financial support make them the most loyal fan base for which our young Gaels could ever hope. The many Friends of St. Edmond enable our school to continue to offer a quality Christ-centered learning experience. These Friends are one of the many reasons that so many choose to stay invested in our mission of Catholic education which provides a true richness to our Webster County civic community. Go Gaels.”