Leadership class’ murder mystery fundraiser largest ever
Among a sea of yellow shirts marked with a horizontal black zigzag stripe Saturday at the Atrium was a murderer lurching among the tables filled with smiling diners.
The Leadership Butler County Class of 2022 hosted its seventh annual Murder Mystery Dinner Saturday in Franklin Township. Megan Boyle, co-chairwoman and class secretary, said it raised a record $18,000.
The Murder Mystery Dinner has been the biggest moneymaker for Leadership Butler County since it began eight years ago, and Boyle said the groundbreaking success of this year’s event was due to multiple factors, including the large class size of 34 members.
“I think having a larger class allowed us to have a wider scope of people to reach out to,” Boyle said. “I think because COVID numbers are not as high at the moment, people would like to get back out and have a connection. It's having fun and helping the local community.”
With event expenses factored in, Leadership Butler County earned a net profit of $9,766, which will go toward two funded projects selected for this year, the Glade Run Lake Conservancy and the Butler Health System Food Institute.
Boyle said Leadership Butler County normally picks one project to fund each year, but again, the large class size allowed for an expanded reach.
Boyle said the Glade Run Lake Conservancy caught the attention of leadership members because it serves an environmental cause at a place many people in the county enjoy.
“Glade Run (volunteers) are raising funds for better signage and to mitigate erosion,” Boyle said. “That is run on a volunteer basis ... we really wanted to be able to reach out and help if we could.”
The food institute serves a more utilitarian purpose, in that it supplies nutritious food to people who need it. Boyle said the leadership members see access to food as a need they want to spotlight.
“For individuals if they have a connection through their provider and go to food institute they can get healthy food they may not have access to otherwise,” Boyle said. “Having that food and nourishment is important. We wanted to raise funds and help them.”
The leadership class worked with Mystery’s Most Wanted, a theater troupe based in Pittsburgh, to put on the show. The company provided the actors, who performed a story that involved the murder of classic Peanuts characters, which also got the audience involved as they ate dinner. Boyle said the show was well-received by the audience.
While ticket sales to the murder mystery dinner raised a hefty chunk of money, Boyle said raffle basket tickets, including a “stock your bar” raffle, raised even more than tickets.
Boyle credited the teamwork of her classmates for the success of the event, and said the organization will continue to work through collaboration.
“We were really happy about how the event turned out,” Boyle said. “Everyone in our group really pulled together. We are a really cohesive team and it was a great time for everyone.”
For more information on upcoming Leadership Butler County initiatives, visit the Butler County Chamber of Commerce website.
