April, at Clayworks, equals All Fired Up.

One of Clayworks' big fundraisers, All Fired Up means MUSIC (provided by Dave Haire)

And SCRUMPTIOUS food, provided by area restaurants & from the kitchens of Clayworks' students & artists.

"All Fired Up" equals door prizes....

...and a Silent Auction. Pieces from both are donated from Clayworks students, studio artists and area potters willing to help out.

This year, the major attraction was the "Clay Olympics." Here are some of the "athletes". Pictured left to right - Amy, Hal and Kita. (Not pictured are Greg and Cary).

Studio Manager, Julie Wiggins, was the Keeper of the Stop Watch.

In the "Clay Balls" competition, Cary, Ju Ian and (my better half) Fred worked hard to win. They didn't. But they gave it their all and I was tickled to see Fred's hands -- which are normally tickling the ivories -- covered in clay.

One of the most interesting events was "Pulling the Longest Handle." Competition was fast, frantic & fierce!

But Handbuilding Instructress Extroadinaire, Amy Sanders, won hand(le)s down!

In the "Assembled Pots" event, many creative pieces emerged. Here's Hal's...

And Cary's...

And Greg's. (Please note John's "ruler" to the upper left. )

The Clay Olympics and their results are pictured here.

Speaking of John, he and Nick were in charge of the All Fired Up Raku demonstration. We trust these guys with propane tanks and red hot pots. Really. We do!

The evidence.

All in all, it was a remarkable evening filled with good food, good friends and fine folks who support what Clayworks is doing for the community. The economy being what it is, attendance was a little lower than usual. But that didn't dampen anyone's spirits. Those who were there were definitely all fired up about clay & community.

Does it get any better than that? For more pix, see John's post here. And Amy's post here.