Blue Hills Tech benefits from laughter

The Blue Hills Regional Technical School’s first comedy night fund-raiser, conceived by Marybeth Nearen of Randolph, was a whopping success, said Nearen and Gary Titus of Canton, an alum of the school and creator of the Adopt-a-Shop program at the Canton school, which benefited from the comedy fund-raising event.

Titus launched the Adopt-a-Shop program in 2003 as a way for people or businesses to donate money or materials to the school’s technical or academic programs. Over the course of the years, various fund-raisers, mostly pasta nights, have tallied some $100,000 in cash and nearly a half-million dollars in materials, Titus said.

The comedy night, held in May at the Randolph Elks Club, racked up $3,500. This year, Adopt-a-Shop gave out two scholarships for $750 each, Titus said.

“Because it was such a huge success,’’ Titus said of the comedy night, “it’s already on tap for next year.’’

Nearen, vice chairman of the Randolph School Committee and a board member of the Blue Hills Foundation, conceived the idea of a comedy night, figuring “everybody loves to laugh, so what better way to raise money than by giving people comedy and dinner?’’

She used an agency to find four comics and then got businesses to donate food and raffle prizes, including A Taste of Italy, Bertucci’s, Not Your Average Joe’s, Outback Steakhouse, and Candy Bouquets, all in Randolph; Olive Garden in Stoughton; Edible Arrangements in Brockton; and Ace Auto Body in Braintree.

Blue Hills students kicked in, making raffle items such as bookcases, a nightstand, and a tool box, said Nearen, whose daughter Melissa graduated from the school in 2007 and whose other daughter Kathleen will be a senior at the school this fall.

Titus, a professional disc jockey, said support for Adopt-A-Shop has been great from the beginning, even in the recent tough economic times.

“We just ask and they give,’’ he said, particularly of fellow alums who pony up for the cause of helping their old school. “And in these times, that support is needed more than ever.’’

For more information, visit adopt-a-shop-com.

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Scott Philie has returned for his seventh season as musical director at the Burt Wood School of Performing Arts’ Summer Arts Festival. Philie is also a voice, piano, and music theory teacher at the Middleborough performing arts school, and a keyboard player for a local Journey tribute band that performs in the Boston area. Appointed as a staff member at the school was Samuel Tucker, a sixth-year general music and chorus teacher at Hanson Middle School and cofounder of the Summer Music Conservatory Program for the Whitman-Hanson Regional School District.

The Boys & Girls Club of Brockton honored one of its longstanding board members, Willy Stadelmann, at the organization’s second annual “Black Tie and Tennis Shoes’’ event. Stadelmann, a survivor along with his wife, Gerrie, of the Mumbai terrorist attack last year in India, was lauded for his loyal volunteer service to the club over the past 20 years. The event raised more than $150,000, and the Stadelmanns’ daughter, Kristin, cochaired the event with Al Asiaf.

Andrew Sherman has been named vice president of sales at Ntirety Inc. in Dedham.

Lawyer Karen A. McSherry has relocated her offices from Oliver Street in Easton to 187 Washington St., also in Easton.

David Mullare of Hanover has been reelected to a three-year term on the board of directors at the Whitman-based Mutual Bank. He has served on the board for 33 years and is also a member of the bank’s executive committee. He is former owner of Mullare News Agency in Brockton, and recently retired from the newspaper distribution industry following a merger with Hudson/RPM distributors.

Primary care physician Rania Husseini of Mansfield has joined the medical staff at Norwood Hospital. Before joining Norwood Hospital, Husseini was an attending physician at Quincy Medical Center, and is a member of the Massachusetts Medical Society.

Paul E. Kandarian can be reached at Kandarian@globe.com.