Basket auction a smashing success
Community center volunteer Gladys Beane, right, makes a last-minute bid on Dec. 21, while Selina Reid, left, checks on the contents of one of the baskets. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Baskets galore helped the Community Center raise almost $1,700. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Community center volunteer Gladys Beane, right, makes a last-minute bid on Dec. 21, while Selina Reid, left, checks on the contents of one of the baskets. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
Baskets galore helped the Community Center raise almost $1,700. KATRINA CLARK/Boothbay Register
The Community Center raised a total of $1,687 at its Community Basket Auction, which ended Dec. 21 at 4 p.m.
People were making last-minute bids, making sure the basket they most wanted still had their bidder number at the top. While some baskets went for a steal, such as a NASCAR-themed basket worth over $100 going for $40, other baskets such as the “Kids crafts DIY extravaganza” and the dog-themed basket went for double their retail value.
According to center director Jane Good, the center’s board is thinking it will be an annual event.
“People don't think of us as a retail space, somewhere you can come in and buy things,” Good said. “But with almost $1,700 in bids I think we pulled it off. I'm amazed we got so many people in to bid.”
While the auction is over, the center has a special “boutique” area full of handmade and donated crafts for sale at all times, with money raised going to support the center. Volunteers Angel Ames and Stephanie Guite manage the boutique; the two also did a great deal of work making the basket auction a success.
“They went out and bought nice coffee mugs for a couple of the baskets, they helped design the area and put things together. They made a huge difference,” Good said.
Baskets were donated by 10 board members of the Health and Wellness Foundation, including Mary Connelly, Alice Grant, Jerry Homer, Shawn Lewin, Donna Morey, Margaret Perritt, Pam Reed, Sandra Rumery, Patty Seybold and Jane Good. Nine more were donated by businesses and people in the region, including Anne Hedgecock, Tom Dewey, Bob Crink, Annette Nager, Katrina Clark, Chris Haskell, Eventide, River's End Farm and Boothbay Region Greenhouses.
Several board members (Morey, Seybold and Reed) brought in multiple baskets for the auction.
“Baskets kept coming in, right up to three days before the auction ended,” volunteer Gladys Beane said. “And people knew it, so they kept coming in to see what new stuff there was to bid on.”
“We had a lot of donations from the community, and it was clear people were thinking about us,” Good said. “And that makes me feel good.”
Winners were notified by phone Dec. 22 and have until the Dec. 24 at noontime to pick up and pay for their baskets.
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