On Saturday, about 300 people made their way to the fairgrounds to enjoy "An Evening in Autumn," the name given to the gala for Memorial Hospital Los Banos.</p><p>The $100 ticket price included a hosted bar, hors d'oeuvres, silent and live auctions, dancing, live music and dinner.</p><p>"This is the premiere party of the year, and it's always great to be a part of it," said Michael Amabile, whose restaurant catered the event. "The people look so great. They're all dressed up and they're having such a great time. It's raising money for a great cause, so it helps everybody on both sides."</p><p>As guests began to dine on salads and pumpkin soup, which was served in individually sized hollowed out pumpkins, the six silent auction tables began to close. </p><p>Before dinner, guests meandered from table to table and recorded their bids on auction cards that were placed alongside items from about 75 donors.</p><p>Competition was at times fierce with bidders occasionally leaving their salads, and taking up positions near an auction item they were coveting so as to be able to quickly scrawl a new bid onto the card just before time ran out.</p><p>Later in the evening, auctioneer Scott Silveira got the live auction rolling and sold about 25 items ranging from a .410-gauge shotgun to a 450-pound side of beef. </p><p>The money raised is no specifically earmarked yet, but Richard Liszewski, the chief executive officer of Memorial Hospital Los Banos, is glad to have the influx of dollars.</p><p>"In the past, we've supported the OB department and renovations in the [medical-surgical] department," he said. "Hospital construction is expensive. Hospital modification is expensive. So, we rely on philanthropy to help us over some of those spots."</p><p>Liszewski noted that raising money this year was a challenge.</p><p>"It's particularly hard nowadays with the recession," he said.</p><p>Michelle Marchese, who has been the philanthropy coordinator for two years, also made note of the difficulties of raising money for the hospital recently.</p><p>"Definitely, this year it's the economy," she said. "Ticket sales are a little lighter than they were last year. I attribute that to what's going on around us."</p><p>Despite cash-donor sponsorships being down, Marchese said that there was still a lot of support within the community.</p><p>"A lot of the committee members we have are really generous. Besides their time, they also donate items and money," she said. "As far as donors within the local community they're still supporting us."</p><p>Lucy Lawrence, the foundation president and the chairwoman on the volunteer side also noted that there were other ways to support the hospital.</p><p>"The hospital depends on philanthropy for different things," she said. </p><p>"There isn't just the gala. We are trying to encourage the community to participate in buying tickets or being a sponsor. In that way, we make money too."</p><p>Marchese made note of an opportunity that Memorial Hospital has to receive matching funds on non-gala dollars that are raised before Dec. 31.</p><p>"We are involved right now in a 2010 Sutter Health matching grant program. For every dollar that I raise, Sutter Health is going to match dollar for dollar," she said. </p><p>"We're trying to raise money for laparoscopic equipment in the operating room. We have surgeons who are using laparoscopy now, but we need to update."</p><p>Donation payments can be spread out through a couple of years, but interested parties must inform Marchese of their intentions right away for the hospital to be eligible for the matching grant.</p><p>More than 300 people attended the gala, including David Magginetti and his wife.</p><p>"It's great. We got invited by some friends of ours, Mike and Marsha Larson, and it's quite interesting," Magginetti said. "We kinda went nutso on bidding on things.</p><p>"It's definitely an eye-opening experience. We've seen a lot of people that we know here from the community. We had a really good time, it's very pleasurable," he said.</p><p>The amount of money raised at this year's gala is not yet known, but according to the night's program, last year's gala netted more than $50,000.