|
 Although it is a lot of work, and takes up a lot
of time, the team members agreed that when the night was over and
more than $18,000 was raised, it was an effort well worth making.
Getting ready for the day took a lot of volunteers starting with Erv
and Cindy Guyett and their staff at Collision Concepts. The back
shop area was closed at noon, all the work in progress was moved out
of the building. The floors were cleaned, measure were taken to keep
guests within a safe area during the event, and then it was time to
set it all up.
Silent Auction and Live Auction items have been collecting in two
office areas at Collision, ready to be taken out to the tables that
are on loan from the Logan County Fairgrounds. The tables along with
chairs were brought to Collision Concepts by employees of Illinois
American Water, a service they offered as a donation to the event.
After the event, the employees returned on Friday morning, loaded
everything up and took it back to the fairgrounds.
After the tables were set up and decorated, volunteers, most of whom
were staff of Collision Concepts along with their family members,
Hargis, Smith, Janice Funk and John and Becky Logan began organizing
the auction areas.
The employees of Collision loaded auction items onto carts and
wheeled them out to the shop area. In a matter of minutes nearly 150
items were delivered to the tables. Hargis was in charge of
organizing the silent auction items and Smith was responsible for
the live auction items. They both had helpers including team members
Janice Funk, Richard Smith and others who just want to pitch in a do
what they can to make it a great night.
In addition to the auction items, there were raffles that are set up
on tables, surprise bags filled with items donated by local
retailers, luminaria sales for remembering those who have battled
cancer of any type and gone to the ultimate victory of life ever
after without cancer and pain.
In the front entrance, Nuthatch Hill BBQ put out BBQ Sundaes
featuring their delicious pulled pork. Cindy Guyett was in charge of
the “front of the house” and took care of the set up and also
provided food and drink for guests.
Bill Post and Tonita Reifsteck have been involved with selling
luminaria for Relay for Life many years. They both spent the evening
at the auction and sold a large number of luminaria before the event
began. Those luminaria were lit and lined the floor along the live
auction tables.
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Team member Nancy Cunningham and her husband Mike manned the raffle
table, and sold tickets for a pink pedal tractor donated by Central
Illinois Ag with a custom paint job by Darin Schempp of Atlanta as
well as last minute tickets for the Ducati battery-powered kid’s
motorcycle donated by Rent One in Lincoln. The drawing for the
motorcycle took place just prior to the live auction event.
Team Member Janice Funk helped throughout the afternoon and when the
doors were ready to open she took a seat behind the table where
surprise bags were being sold. The bags consisted of a wide variety
of items, all donated by local retailers.
When guests began to arrive, the first stopped at the food tables,
filling up on tasty items from Nuthatch and the Guyetts.
Then it was out to the auction area where the front set of tables
was filled with items for the live auction.
In the back portion of the shop area, the silent auction tables
provided more than 100 items for shoppers, and many made their way
to that area and started placing their bids.
To get their live auction paddles, they visited volunteers Devyn Fry
of Lincoln Daily News and Leslie Bridge of The First National Bank
in Tremont. The silent auction ended at 6:15
p.m. and the next portion of the evening was dedicated to
introductions and expression of gratitude by the committee members.
Among those introduced were John and Becky Logan who are the brother
and sister-in-law of the late Roy Logan. They were introduced by
Cindy Guyett who spoke briefly in remembrance of Roy. John Logan
helped with the auction, and Becky volunteers to be one of the
cashiers for the night.
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Becky and John
Logan, Cindy Guyett, Jennifer Luckhart, Nila Smith, Karen Hargis and
Little Miss Luci.
Hargis introduced Maske and shared the gratitude of the committee
for his continued commitment to the auction. Smith introduced Little
Miss Logan County Luci Bobell, who would be the “Vanna” for the
evening.
After a moment of silence for the luminaria names and all others who
have battled and moved on as well as those that are still at war
with cancer, the floor was turned over to Maske and his helpers.
The night was fun for everyone. Maske did an excellent job of
pulling out the bids, and brought in as many dollars as possible for
the ACS. His helper John Logan was busy keeping track of all that
was going on, and Little Miss Luci, sometimes with help from her big
brother Wesley do a great job of showing off the items being sold.
Lisa Ramlow
At the end of the night, guests were assisted with checkout by Fry,
Bridge, Becky Logan and Lisa Ramlow. They were then encouraged to
head to the next room, where photographer Mitch Douglas awaited
them. Some were a bit shy and dodged out a side door with no picture
taken. Even so, Douglas ended up with 30 great photos of buyers.
Props had been provided by Cindy Guyett and some took advantage of
the fun little accessories for their photo op.
During the live auction there were a large number of big ticket
items this year. And there were items that we may or may not ever
see in the auction again. Three such items were the little yellow
fellows made by Carol Charron and donated by Charron Auto Repair.
The Charrons are retiring and are ready to start a new chapter in
their lives. The tanks the little yellow fellows are made of come
from the auto repair. So, that particular medium may not be
available in the future for Carol to turn into sweet little works of
art. The Friends and Family Relay Team thanks them for contributing
to the auction.
Oddly enough, it would not be the last time that these little guys
show up in the community. All three were purchased by Tim Canady who
said that he would be placing them in the long line of gifts for the
drawing to be held on Saturday at the Modern Brake ribbon cutting
and open house. Canady is the son-in-law of Kevin Ray and the
business would officially be turned over to Tim and wife Libby
during the Saturday celebration.
In all, it was a great night. The auctions brought in more than
$18,000 for the ACS. Because there are so many people who are
willing to provide what it needed for the auction free of charge,
the full amount will go to the American Cancer Society for the
battle against breast cancer.
It is a worthy battle and a worthy cause. In 2022 more than $287,000
women in America will be diagnosed with some stage and form of
breast cancer. More than 46,000 women will leave this earth for a
better place with no cancer and no pain.
The number of deaths from breast cancer is dropping about one
percent per year. The reason for this drop is increased awareness,
early detection, and the ongoing research funded by the ACS.
The American Cancer Society records its annual financial records on
its website for all to see. Their fiscal year begins in October, so
what is on their website currently is for the year that ended in
September 2021.
The 2021 report shows the following:
-
$63
million spent on Awareness and Education
-
$1.616 million spent in direct assistance to cancer warriors
-
$27.371 million spent in free lodging for patients who have to
travel for their treatments
-
$198.673 million spent on research grants, seeking more
effective treatments and medications and ultimately trying to
find cures for cancers. (There are currently six such grants
awarded to Illinois hospitals and laboratories.)
For more information about the ACS, visit the
website: https://www.cancer.org/.
The Friends and Family Relay Team and the Pink Pumpkin Fundraiser
Auction Committee wish to thank all those who gave their time and
talents to the auction.
[Nila Smith with photos by Mitch
Douglas & Karen Hargis] |
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