At this year’s annual A Knight For All Seasons Auction, a nine-week-old girl goldendoodle puppy was a big hit with the bidders. The auction took place this past weekend where Kare 11’s Julie Nelson was the MC for this event along with other guests, including BSM alum of ’95 and former NBA player Devean George. Even though these local celebrities were present, many of the attendees had their eyes on the adorable puppy.

Director of alumni relations Ms. Mary Fran O’Keefe, who is part of the planning for this event, was looking forward to bringing a puppy back into the auction. “We have done it twice before, but not for a couple years. It is not always a goldendoodle; it has either been a golden retriever or lab,” O’Keefe said.

The puppy comes from a breeder in northern Minnesota. The breeder’s motivation is not to make money off these puppies, but to do something much greater. “This woman breeds these puppies to support her autistic son who does not like to be touched, but the puppies follow him around,” O’Keefe said.

As the auction date approached, many students were begging their parents to bid on the goldendoodle puppy. Although no one knew how much the puppy would cost, an extremely high number was predicted. “The auctioneer will determine the starting bid. I would say [it will be] somewhere between three and seven thousand [dollars],” said O’Keefe prior to the auction.

Alum of ’96 Biz McShane Murphy, who is also a member of the BSM board of directors, surprised her husband and children, ages four and seven, with a new puppy at their house the morning after the auction.