Community delivers for Boys and Girls

Scott Swanson

Of The New Era

The turnout might have been down a little at the 22nd annual Boys and Girls Club Auction on April 26, but the enthusiasm wasn’t.

After they’d finished tallying up the numbers, club officials reported that the event raised some $109,000 for the club, which was very close to what was raised at last year’s auction, club Director Kevin McLaughlin said.

The biggest-selling items of the night were a Retreat hot tub that sold for $3,950, donated by Marquis Spas, and a driveway paving job donated by Bob Johnson Trucking and Cascade Rock, which raised $3,300.

Other big-ticket purchases included a hand-carved bear donated by Cascade Timber Consultants ($725), a log truck load of firewood donated by CTC ($1,000), a trip to Kona, Hawaii, donated by Al and Dixie Sullivan ($2,200), and a custom deck barbecue donated by Milt and Jane Moran and Lester Sales ($2,400).

Things didn’t look good as the auction approached, said McLaughlin, who has organized 14 of the events.

“I just felt like, with the economy, it worried us, my board and myself,” he said. “We were worried when we were going in but in the true spirit of Sweet Home, people stepped up.”

He said some snowbirds, who usually are back from the Southwest, have not returned yet, due to the cold weather. Other participants were involved with a trip by local schoolchildren to Florida to learn about the space program.

“I honestly thought it was going to be a real bad year,” McLaughlin said. “The indications were earlier that many people were not going to be there.”

But some 280 people showed up, down from the 300 to 320 who’ve attended in recent years, but still enough to get the job done, he said.

Participants donated $10,850 for Jim Riggs Memorial Scholarships for needy children, “which is an indicator of good support,” McLaughlin said. Those donations ranged from $1,000 to $25, he said.

Counting ticket sales, sponsorships and the auctions, “we ended up with about $109,000, which in today’s economy is pretty darn good.”

A big hit was the chicken enchilada dinner served by Denim and Pearls catering service, staffed by school district employees. The meal included a well-stocked taco bar and a fiesta salad bar, along with a choice of five desserts.

McLaughlin said one attendee, “who attends a lot of auctions,” went out of his way to find McLaughlin and tell him the food and the service was “by far the best of any (auctions) he’s been at.”

McLaughlin said he’s moved by the generosity he saw.

“People were there, loggers, who don’t have any more jobs lined up for the rest of the year,” he said. “Somehow they find the money to still support the Boys and Girls Club.

“That’s kind of the Sweet Home spirit.”

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