Former NonDoc intern Trinity Cohee shows Tres Savage what she thought of his editing during NonDoc's summer fundraiser Friday, June 18, 2021. (Michael Duncan)

Going into our summer fundraising party last Friday night, it was hard to know what to expect. Would people come out in the blazing heat? Would everyone remember how to socialize after the pandemic? Had we bought enough taco fixings, or too many?

The answers to those questions ended up being: Yes, absolutely, and way too many.

The gathering was in many ways a repeat of a party we threw in 2017: same venue, same improved dance floor, some of the same donors and supporters. But it also highlighted the tremendous growth NonDoc has seen in the past few years.

Since then, we’ve become a nonprofit, moved into our beloved news dungeon office space and brought on a bunch of new employees (including yours truly).

Friday was a night to celebrate everything that’s changed and everything that’s stayed the same, and it was a time to look to the future.

It was also a time for NonDoc supporters to work through their pent-up pandemic aggression by buying tickets for a raffle to smash a pie into the faces of our staff members. Longtime cartoonist Mike Allen drew the raffle tickets, and there were some fortuitous match-ups, with our editor in chief, Tres Savage, getting pied by former NonDoc intern Trinity Cohee. Our education reporter, Megan Prather, felt the wrath of Oklahoma State Board of Education member Jennifer Monies.

Ollie, the resident Labrador retriever, won the biggest prize of the night when he got to clean up the whipped cream afterward. No word yet on whether our generous hosts, Daniel Miley and Marlie McDonald, had as much fun cleaning up after Ollie the next day.

All in all, the evening was a great kickoff to our summer drive to raise $10,000. We’re so grateful to everyone who made it out and to everyone who donated. We rely on your contributions to keep the lights on and to keep bringing you independent community journalism.

If you couldn’t make it on Friday, you can stoke or soothe your FOMO with the photos of the evening below, taken by NonDoc board member and resident photographer Michael Duncan.

And remember that our fundraising drive is still going, and you can make a donation today to help us wrap up our summer effort early!

Swipe to view pie party photos

  • Andrea DenHoed

    Andrea DenHoed is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and was formerly the web copy chief at The New Yorker magazine. She became NonDoc's managing editor in March 2020 and transitioned to a part-time role as features editor at the end of 2022. She departed NonDoc in 2023 to pursue an educational opportunity.

  • Andrea DenHoed

    Andrea DenHoed is a graduate of the University of Oklahoma and was formerly the web copy chief at The New Yorker magazine. She became NonDoc's managing editor in March 2020 and transitioned to a part-time role as features editor at the end of 2022. She departed NonDoc in 2023 to pursue an educational opportunity.

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