Don’t have a Valentine? Phi Alpha Omega can help

By Haley Butler | gargoyle@flagler.edu

Photo via http://phialphaomega.webs.com/
Phi Alpha Omega called all of Flagler’s single ladies last Thursday for their 24th annual Bachelor Bid.

Just in time for Valentine’s Day, all who attended had the chance to bid on the eligible bachelors who danced, strip-teased, and strutted down the runway. To make the bidding even more appealing, all of the proceeds made at the event went to Love146, an organization aimed towards ending child trafficking and exploitation.

By the time the Dining Hall doors opened at 8:30 p.m., a small, but ready, crowd had gathered and before long, almost every seat facing the runway was filled. After paying a $2 entry fee, each attendee was given a paddle made by the Phi Alpha girls.

Lewis the Lion started the bidding off, and was followed by 19 more of “Flagler’s Finest Fellows,” as the event program referred to them.

Hooting and hollering was continuous throughout the bidding, as there seemed to be a guy to fit any girl’s type. Ranging from the country boy, to the next-government-official, to the poetic romancer, each of the bachelors was ready with their own plan of wooing the ladies in the crowd. Even if one wasn’t looking to buy a man for an evening, the Bid was nothing short of entertaining.

Bachelor Dylan Henson’s routine not only included a Clark Kent to Superman performance, (button-down shirt rip-off and all), but he even gave a select few girls in the crowd flowers from a boutique he had on hand. Even with his smooth moves, Henson said he was surprised to be one of bachelors to be bided on for 70 dollars, the evening’s highest amount. What wasn’t so surprising was his favorite part about being a part of being in the Bachelor Bid- “I get to meet really pretty girls,” he said.

Phi Alpha Omega president Nicole Del Bene said the Bachelor Bid has been one of the community service group’s most successful ways to raise money for different charities. “Every year we do a new charity, we raise more money, we have more guys that want to do it, and we get more restaurants that want to donate,” Del Bene said.

With that in mind, who know what next year’s Bachelor Bid will have in store?