The annual auction hosted by Olin Women in Business (OWIB) was a huge success this past January, and proved to be one of the unmissable events of the year. Watching classmates attempt to outbid each other in the live auction is priceless entertainment, and this year was no exception.
One item in particular, a dinner for 18 hosted by Greg Hutchings of the Weston Career Center and adjunct professor, led to a heated round of bidding between a second-year MBA still flush from a successful summer internship and a band of first-years pooling their money. The first-years won out, and I was lucky enough to join that group for an evening at Greg’s beautiful condominium in the Central West End neighborhood of St. Louis.
It’s no wonder Greg’s auction dinner has become somewhat legendary, due in no small part to Greg’s impeccable taste. Dinner kicked off with champagne and fresh scallops, harvested and sent via airmail by Greg’s friends in Nantucket. An incredible dinner of beef
tenderloin followed, paired with a delicious red wine from Juan Gil winery, which everyone enjoyed so much that it’s become a staple at MBA get-togethers. But nothing could top the dessert of chocolate pie from Sugaree Baking Co. I won’t hesitate to say this was by far the most delicious pie I’ve ever had in my life, and I am no stranger to pie.
We finished off the night with a nightcap at Gamlin Whiskey House down the street, and a toast to Greg for hosting a dinner that far outshone anything we could have expected. The class of 2018 will have stiff competition from me in the bidding for this dinner at next year’s auction.
Photographs courtesy of Rey Li (MBA ’17), Anika Vinze (MBA ’17), and Mary Kate Mahoney (MBA ’17).