Winterfest Gala

The 2026 Winterfest Gala was the ninth time Adaptive Sports at Mount Snow brought the community together for this fundraiser.  It was held on Saturday, February 7, in the Grand Ballroom at the Grand Summit Resort in West Dover.  About 200 people sat down to a formal dinner, and the rest of the night was built around a live auction, a silent auction, and the annual raffle drawing at 8:00.  The money pays for specialized equipment, including mono-skis and bi-skis, and for subsidized one-on-one instruction for people with physical, cognitive, or sensory disabilities.  Raffle tickets had been sold across the mountain for $5 each, or five for $20.  Hannoush Jewelers provided a diamond pendant for first prize, and Sports Odyssey provided a pair of Elan Ripstick 88 skis for second.

The ballroom already had a built-in screen at the front of the room.  We provided a Christie laser projector for that screen, so the program, the sponsor slides, and the auction items were bright enough to read under the chandeliers.  In a room this deep, people at the back tables still have a hard time seeing the front, so we also provided a 75-inch monitor halfway back, showing the same picture.  That way everyone could follow the bids and the raffle, not only the people sitting near the stage.

We provided four powered speakers, two up front and two halfway back, to ensure that the whole room had even coverage and that everyone could hear the speeches and the auction.  A wireless handheld went to the podium and to whoever was calling the bids.  We played the slides and video from a main laptop, with a backup laptop beside it, and switched between them so the picture could change cleanly while the room stayed on the show.

Adaptive Sports is a volunteer-run nonprofit, and this night carries a lot of the winter budget.  We were there so the whole room could see the screen and hear what was being said.