Call it a second Gold Rush.
In less than an hour, prospectors of crunchy, sweet, melts in your mouth goodness nabbed thousands of “gold bars” from an Albuquerque event.
The gold bars — an Albuquerque Public Schools cafeteria specialty that reigned in an era before healthy school lunch reforms — were on sale as part of the APS Education Foundation’s biggest yearly fundraiser, the Gold Bar Gala, said Val Burch, the foundation’s development manager.
The foundation hosted the main event Friday, making about 438 dozen gold bars available for sale to gala-goers. The 310 dozen or so gold bars that were left over for that event went on sale Tuesday morning in what was envisioned as a two-day event at the district’s Berna Facio Professional Development Center at Louisiana and Comanche NE.
But word got out and, by 7:30 a.m., people were lining up to snap up the nostalgia bakes for $25 per dozen.
“Oh my gosh, we sold out in under an hour,” Burch said. ” … They were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve been waiting for these. This brings back memories.’ … Some lady was shipping them out of town to her son who used to be a former APS student.”
Since the inventory is gone, the Wednesday event has been canceled.
Thank you for your support! @ABQschools pic.twitter.com/G7LndHX71o
— APS Ed Foundation (@APSEdFoundation) April 18, 2023
The bars, which APS Food and Nutrition Services makes each year for the foundation fundraiser, are a traybake-style sweet featuring peanut butter, Rice Krispies and a top layer of chocolate.
“I mean, they are amazing,” Burch said.
The gala and bake sale raise funds for the foundation, which offers grants to innovative APS educators and schools throughout the year.
After Tuesday’s turnout, Burch said she may reconsider the foundation’s approach for the 2024 event.
“I’m thinking maybe we need increase what we sell next year,” she said.
