Benefit Auction at Rosario for Orcas Alumnus Peter Rutledge & Family

Peter Rutledge and family last fall

Thursday, July 5, from 6 to 9 p.m. at Rosario Resort’s Beach House

Peter Rutledge graduated from Orcas Island High School in 1997. Over a year ago, Peter was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor. He received radiation therapy intended to halt the growth of the tumor.

In December 2011, two weeks after his second son was born, he suffered a hemorrhage of the tumor that caused stroke-like symptoms. The brain injury has cost him the use of his right side, difficulty with his speech and extreme fatigue. He is experiencing a long road of rehabilitation. His mom, Kathi Anderson, just retired as a teacher at Orcas Island School District, and is now back with Peter and his family — wife Cari and sons Tysen and Luke — to help in Peter’s recuperation.

His Orcas classmates have been working for the past several months to throw an event that will help Peter and his family. They planned it around the 4th of July holiday, when many mainland alumni come back to the island and hold reunions.

On Thursday, July 5, a Benefit Auction event will be held at Rosario Resort’s Beach House (formerly known as the Discovery House).

Hors d’oeuvres will be served, along with a no-host bar as many donated items are auctioned, from the mundane — oil change — to the lively — Mariners tickets — to the sublime — a week’s stay at a private home in Kauai. All proceeds from the auction will go to the Rutledge family.