“Cooke and the Colonel” underwent major renovations for this year’s dinner, with Parker families swapping their homes for a venue at Theatre on the Lake, and homemade dinners for food stations from restaurants across Chicago. On Friday, May 10, Parker parents and faculty donned Parker paraphernalia at a photo booth or took turns competing for wine bottles at a ring toss, among other interactive stations.

In previous years, numerous families hosted groups of parents–randomly assigned–at their homes and served dinner. Across this year’s venue, various food stations offered boas, sushi, burgers, tacos, and ceviche, along with packages of french fries and pizza. For dessert, attendees munched on donuts from Dorite Donuts and cupcakes.

“We wanted to change up the format because after doing nine Cooke dinners the community was ready for something different,” Associate Director of Development Chuck Lira said. “We noticed that guests really enjoy the social aspect of the cocktail portion of our events, so why not create an entire fundraiser around that idea and bring in a bunch of fantastic Chicago restaurants who would donate food.”

Like Lira, Co-Chair of the event and Parker Parent Meredith Freese began plans for the event in May, though the majority of the work started in the fall. Freese became involved after her friend Sasha Adler was asked to chair the event and got a group together. According to Freese, Parker had decided it was time for a change and presented them with the Theatre on the Lake venue. Everything else, Freese said, was up to them. “We took that idea and ran with it,” Freese said. “We had this idea of bringing all these restaurants in as part of our community and having little bites of food, so we went to restaurants around Parker or people we had a relationship with to have the food donated.”

Middle School History Teacher and Parker Parent Anthony Shaker enjoyed the venue and format in particular. “The renovated Theatre on the Lake was stunning, and the weather was perfect to enjoy the view of the lake,” Shaker said. “The food was delicious, and I preferred having small plates of a lot of local restaurants instead of a sit down full meal.”

According to Lira, more people attended this new format of Cooke, especially faculty and staff members. “The format was completely different than the previous versions, and we also made due to stress that the dress code was casual,” Lira said. “Our co-chairs encouraged everyone to feel comfortable wearing jeans if they wanted, and I would say those two factors helped with the increase in attendance.”

One significant pull to the event was the guest speaker, Representative Ayanna Pressley ‘92. Pressley spoke of her experience at Parker and the impact Parker teachers had on her education and career.

“It was really exciting to hear Ayanna Pressley speak,” Shaker said. “She gave a powerful speech on the importance of a Parker education.”

According to Lira, the Parker community has embraced and welcomed the new format. “That is evident from the enormously positive feedback we’ve received,” Lira said. “We’ve also received constructive feedback, which we always appreciate because it enables us to improve our events each year.”

For Lira, Freese, and Shaker, the only significant changes they foresee making are of the seating and venue acoustics. “The only thing I would have added was maybe a little more outdoor seating and heaters in order to make it possible to enjoy the outdoor space,” Shaker said.

Among the changes Lira plans for next year’s auction are a venue with better acoustics and the program portion of the event to take place in the center of the venue.

Over 200 faculty members signed up and there was a significant number of Middle and Upper School families compared to previous years. Many more families stayed later as well. “The faculty loved it and gave really great reviews, and all the parents I’ve spoken to loved it,” Freese said. “People thought it was fun, laid back, really easy going, and people loved that it was casual this year and not dressy.”

With five co-chairs, over 40 parents and staff volunteers, as well as the Development and Alumni team, coordinating the event was “a seamless and wonderful experience,” according to Lira.

For the co-chairs, the hardest part of planning this year’s dinner was the significant changes from previous years. According to Freese, the planners couldn’t look back at past years and figure out what worked and what didn’t, and while they referenced the past Cooke dinners, none of them were applicable. “There was no road map, so a lot of it was looking back at what we learned,” Freese said. “We reinvented the wheel this year.”