Inaugural Gala - 2024
Join Us — Sunday, January 14, 2024 | 5-8pm
WEATHER UPDATE! We have rescheduled the gala to this Sunday, January 14. Check your email for updates. Contact us at contact@chestertonqofm.com with any questions.
This year's inaugural Gala will be a vital support system for the school's mission and the opening of our doors in fall 2024. Please join us for an elegant evening of joy, music, companionship and merriment as we raise funds and awareness for Chesterton Academy - Queen of Martyrs!
A special thank you to our gala sponsors!
The Evening’s Entertainment
Keynote Speaker
D.T. Sheffler, PhD
Catholic philosopher, scholar and educator
G.K. Chesterton
As played by John Walker
Award winning professional actor in film, television and theatre
Event Details:
VENUE:
Saint Albert the Great, 2420 St. Albert the Great Dr., Sun Prairie, WI 53590
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
5:00 pm - 6:00 pm | Cocktail Reception - SOLD OUT!
Enjoy an open bar, hors d'oeuvres and the opportunity to bid on our silent auction items. Plus, live music and GK Chesterton himself!
6:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Benefit Dinner Program - SOLD OUT!
The dinner program includes updates on the progress of the school and the evening’s
keynote speaker: D.T. Sheffler, PhD - Catholic Philosopher, Scholar and Educator
TICKETS:
Purchase tickets for the cocktail reception only or cocktail reception + benefit dinner, click below for more details.
Priority seating will be assigned for full tables and individual ticket sales will be limited.
WHAT YOU’RE SUPPORTING:
The annual gala serves as the primary fundraiser of the year and plays a pivotal role in ensuring that students receive a top-notch classical, Catholic education while keeping tuition affordable and accessible to all students. Through your attendance and support, you are investing in the education and personal development of our youth and ensuring the sustainability of the school. This investment will prepare them to become the next generation of knowledgeable, virtuous and compassionate leaders.
ABOUT D.T. SHEFFLER: D.T. Sheffler is professor of philosophy and academic dean at Memoria College. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy and an M.A. in Classics from the University of Kentucky. He has taught philosophy, Latin, Greek, history, composition, and Great Books at colleges and classical high schools for 15 years. His research, writing, and speaking is wide ranging, including such topics as classical education, Christian Platonism, early Christianity, conservatism, beauty, Western Civilization, and twentieth-century Catholic personalism, especially the philosophy of Dietrich von Hildebrand. His writing has appeared in the American Catholic Philosophical Quarterly, Quaestiones Disputatae, Touchstone, The Classical Teacher, and The Imaginative Conservative. He lives in Louisville with his wife Rose and three children.
ABOUT JOHN WALKER: John Walker has been an award winning professional actor in film, television and theatre from London to Los Angeles for over 40 years. John’s career as an actor specialized in Shakespeare and contemporary plays across the country with Tony award winning theatre companies, guest star and recurring roles on General Hospital, Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman, Homicide: Life on the Street, Enemy Of The State and many more television shows and movies.
John’s work on a Chesterton piece began in 2006 after leaving Hollywood for a monastery farm in Vermont. His aim was to create a piece that fully connected audiences with a story of faith. During this research and writing phase John took a job as a professor of theatre at Franciscan University of Steubenville, where he met the creator of the very popular EWTN show, SAINTS VERSUS SCOUNDRELS created by fellow FUS professor Dr. Ben Wiker. Dr. Wiker recruited John to play Chesterton on two episodes of the show opposite Thomas Hobbes. After this performance as GK on EWTN, producers expressed an interest in filming John’s one man show for future airing. Eventually I finished a final draft of THE GOLDEN KEY script which was filmed at EWTN July 2018 and aired. Unexpectedly EWTN created a series out of the one man show, now in it’s fifth season entitled, CHESTERTON STATION. Things seem to move very fast when the Holy Spirit is at work. John attributes this entire process to the Holy Spirit and feels overly blessed to perform a piece aimed at bringing audiences to Christ through the wit and words of GK Chesterton. Perhaps GK was was tugging God’s robes a bit, chuckling all the time.
Thank you to our sponsors!
