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 The two businesses hosted the event at Collision
Concepts where approximately 125 guests partook in an evening of
bidding. At the end of the night bids came in around $5,800, but
that would not be all of the support.
The next day, the fundraiser continued to bring in more funds
reaching just over $6,300 plus, as there were a couple of the buyers
who would be submitting for matching funds from their employers for
the single items they purchased.
In the end, organizers are anticipating that approximately $6,500
will be donated to Relay for Life of Logan County via the Friends
and Family Relay Team, consisting of folks from both companies, plus
CCAOnline in Lincoln.
The evening on Thursday began at 5 p.m. with a
wonderful selection of foods paired with choices of beer, wine, or
non-alcoholic beverages. The refreshments were provided by Collision
Concepts and put together in the front lobby of the business.
Erv and Cindy Guyett of Collision Concepts donated all the food and
beverages for the night as well as the space for the auction and
their fabulous team of employees served to set up, assist during the
event and cleaned up.
Cindy Guyett, Roy Logan, and Collision staff put together the array
of food and drink, making the front area of the business very
welcoming for guests.
Guests enjoyed raw veggie shooters, savory meat and cheese kabobs,
meatballs, crackers, cupcakes made by one of Cindy’s good friends,
and a variety of candies and mints.
During the social hour, Lisa Ramlow of CCAOnline and
Lincoln Daily News, manned the cashier office and worked to pass out
41 bidding paddles. Also in the office with Ramlow was an array of
pink items such as bracelets for everyone and pink ribbons for
breast cancer survivors.
The Wall of Hope survivor list was also laid out, with breast cancer
survivors encouraged to sign the list and take a pink ribbon.
In the shop area at Collision, workers had stopped fixing broken
cars early in the afternoon and provided a large clean space for the
auction. When tables and chairs arrived everyone pitched in to get
the auction space set up. They also did a lot of running back and
forth helping to carry pumpkins out to the shop area where Karen
Hargis and Nila Smith of Lincoln Daily News, with additional help
from Erv Guyett, got 51 items set up and ready for the auction.
At 6 p.m. everyone made their way into the shop area where that
local auctioneer Mike Maske would be selling the 51 pink items.
Before the auction began Jim and Jan Youngquist of
Lincoln Daily News and Cindy and Erv Guyett of Collision Concepts
came to the front of the room to welcome guests. Jim served as the
spokesman and began with a welcome and thank you to all who set up,
promoted the auction and those in attendance, as well as all those
who had donated items for the auction.
He gave credit to Cindy Guyett and LDN’s Roy Logan for coming up
with the idea of a Pink Pumpkin Fundraiser and talked about the
hours of planning it had taken to put together the event. He pointed
out and expressed appreciation to the team of organizers that
included Karen Hargis and Nila Smith of LDN and Lisa Ramlow of
CCAOnline.
He told the guests that there were a few purposes attached to the
evening. He said of course the first goal was to raise money for the
American Cancer Society. He urged the audience to loosen those purse
strings and put out some good money for some great items.
Youngquist recalled that before he began CCAOnline and Lincoln Daily
News, he and wife Jan were florists. He said that looking down the
long, long row of items being offered up, he was amazed and very
impressed by the level of talent and imagination in the room.
Before starting the auction the Logan County Fair
Royalty was introduced. Joining in the evening as “Vanna White's”
while Maske auctioned off items were Miss Logan County Fair Queen
Molly Schempp, Junior Miss Julia Collins, and Little Miss Kylee
Fulk. Joining the ladies and also lending a helping hand were their
chaperones Katie Gosda and Brandee Montgomery.
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Maske, who volunteered his time for the evening, made
quick work of the auction and yet pulled in some very impressive
final bids.
The top seller of the night was a candy bouquet
donated by Kroger Employees at the former Lincoln Kroger. Smith
shared the story that Kroger had promised to make a donation long
before the employees heard that the store would be closing. When the
news broke that Kroger would close on August 31st, staff moved
quickly to get the bouquet done and turned over to Hargis, so they
would be able to keep their promise to support Relay for Life.
The Kroger arrangement hammered out at $500 and was purchased by
Clay Jennings. Earlier in the evening, Maske announced that
Collision Concepts would match dollar-for-dollar the first item to
bring $500. Thanks to that pledge the Kroger candy basket brought in
a total of $1,000.
Throughout the evening sale prices were strong, with items going for
anywhere from $80 to $275, $350, and $500. In the end there were 35
winners who took home the 51 items with some buying two, and even
three or more pieces.
At the end of the night there was a drawing held for
a free one-night stay at the Lincoln Hampton Inn. The drawing was
done according to paddle number, and the stay was a generous
donation by the Hampton and its manager Damon Priddy.
As guests filed out of the shop area, they were invited to pose for
a formal picture with their auction item, taken by LDN’s Mitch
Douglas. The cashier’s office was a busy place as guests filed in to
pay their tab.
When the dust had settled, Ramlow did a quick total. There was a
list of buyers who would be paying on Friday, and a couple of buyers
who were going to seek matching funds from their employers, so the
total was not complete, but none-the-less impressive. Nila Smith had
the honor of stepping into the lobby where the organizers and some
friends and family lingered. When it was announced that the cash on
hand was currently totally $5,875, a big whoop went up through the
room! The final number would be determined on Friday, but as an
added bonus, Mitch Douglas said that he would pledge to donate the
$125 to make the total count for the evening an even $6,000.
In addition, on Friday, Graue Chevrolet paid double their winning
bid.
Alice Engle of Version Wireless also said she would be seeking a
match from her employer – Verizon Wireless.
On Friday morning Karen Hargis noted, “I’m still pinching myself
trying to make sure all this is real!”
The organizers were indeed astounded and grateful for the dollar
figure.
The event took a year of planning and coordination, and on Thursday
evening it all came together almost flawlessly. As anyone knows, a
first-time event is always filled with a little bit of uncertainty.
The questions: “will people come, will people buy, what will we
miss, what will we forget,” plagued the minds of the organizers
until it was all over. This event went off so well, that everyone
who took part was enthused, and already very excited for next year!
Of course, none of this would have happened without a huge amount of
support from the community. In addition to those who donated and
purchased pink items, there were lots of people in the background.
For example, much thanks to Noah at Lincoln Printers who printed
flyers, the programs for the event, signs to place along the road
and much more, all at no charge for the fundraiser.
Thanks to Gail Aple-Sasse of Gail’s Pumpkin Patch for the donation
of all the real pumpkins for the designers
Also a huge thank you to all those who provided an item for the
auction:
Debbie's Downtown Floral
Abe's
Allstate
Bee's Floral & Landscaping
Bell's Blossoms and Blessings
Brady Realtors
Castle Manor
CCA Online
Charron's Auto Repair
Cindy's Cottage
Collision Concepts
Connie Block
Deb Short
Deco Designs
Dena Memorials
Flossie's & Delzenna's
Flowers & Things
Forget Me Not Floral & Gift
Friends and Family Relay Team
Friendship Manor
Generations at Lincoln
Grieme-Arnold Insurance Agency, LLC
Guest House
Hearing Aid Center
Helen Knecht
Holland, Barry & Bennett
Jennifer DePasquale
June Bock
Kroger Employees
Lacey Mei
Lincoln Daily News
Linda Churchill / Serendipity Stictches
Make It Sew
Margie Douglas
Marilyn Lowery
McEntire Appliance
Oasis Senior Center
R.W. Garrett Agancy, Inc.
Remington Seed
Salt Creek Attic
Serendipity Stitches & Framing
Small Town Creations
St. Clara's Rehab & Senior Center
State Farm - Chris Coyne
Stephanie Elder & Laurel Gooden Castleman
Styles by Robin
The Christian Village
All in all, this was a wonderful night, a terrific fundraiser, and a
good opportunity for folks to spend time together, and as encouraged
by Jim Youngqust at the beginning of the night, just have some fun!
Thanks to all from all of us at Collision Concepts, Lincoln Daily
News and CCAOnline!
[Nila Smith] |
