By Nancy Ketch
Houlton Rotarian
HOULTON, Maine — A sure sign that the holidays are just around the corner is the arrival of the annual Houlton Rotary Radio and TV Auction.
The auction takes place Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 23-25, 2015. The event airs from 6-10:30 p.m. each night on WHOU Radio 100.1 FM and on Time Warner Cable Channel 16. The auction is also available on the Internet at www.houltonrotary.org.
Also, for the first time in auction history, the event will be broadcast on Channel 36 in Sherman.
The auction is held at Watson Hall at the Episcopal Church on Main Street and the public is welcome to attend to get a behind-the-scenes look at how it all comes together, enjoy some food and do some bidding.
Big things are in store for this year’s event as the auction celebrates its 60th anniversary. (See accompanying story). The auction is the major annual fundraiser for the Houlton Rotary Club. A booklet detailing the auction items for each half hour, special items, phone numbers and store room hours is inserted in today’s issue of the Houlton Pioneer Times. The supplement sponsor for this year is Houlton Water Company. This year’s online sponsor is Adult Education College Transitions.
Each year, a major project or projects are funded by the Rotary Auction in addition to their many other charities. The major project for the 2015 auction is funding toward the completion of Phase III of the Riverfront Park development plan. Funds will also be used to support the Backpacks For Kids Project which provides food for children, for Aid For Kids’ “Kids On The Move” program and for two projects at Bird Farm.
Other projects that will benefit from auction proceeds include Dollars For Scholars, Cary Library, Rotary Youth Exchange, Student Recognition Day, Dominican Water Project and the Salvation Army.
The auction will feature a list of items for bid on each half hour (6-10:30 – nine half hours per night). Bidding on these items is only accepted during their individual half hours with the high bidder being awarded the item at the close of the half hour’s bidding.
Corporate sponsors for each night of this year’s auction are Buildings Etcetera, Madigan Health Care Services and Severson, Hand and Nelson. Items featured in the half hours include homemade foods, gift certificates, oil changes, potatoes, hand crafted items and a selection of other merchandise.
Nightly special items are also featured. These items may be bid on throughout a given night. Successful bidders at the close of each night will be awarded these items. The nightly special items include Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL), car rentals, drywall finishing, coffee brewers, pellets, a snowmobile helmet, a gas grill, golf lessons, signed basketballs by the HHS Girls Varsity State Championship Team, an oak game table, tuition, snowmobile jacket, lavatory faucet, hand-crafted items, a member share at the County Co-op, wet/dry vac, cords of wood, loads of loam and gravel, an ice fishing snow tub, lifetime fair passes, a CB radio, handmade wooden furniture, remote control helicopter, jewelry, photography, 20 circuit panel, Christmas trees with $100 in scratch tickets, furnace tune-ups, gift certificates and a variety of other items.
There are also three-night special items which will be featured throughout the auction and this year range up to $15,300. The three-night specials this year include a Baskahegan Model camp package from Ward Log Homes, a chimney liner kit installed, a drone, a truckload of firewood, a rifle, 150 gallons of fuel oil, round-trip airline tickets, generators, leather lounge chairs, entertainment centers, flooring, LSL, an air exchange unit, a car starter, 365 days of coffee, a handcrafted pine bench and a six-quart stand mixer. The successful bidders at the close of bidding on Wednesday evening will be awarded these items.
The retail value of the items donated by area businesses and individuals is over $65,000 and add-on items are still coming in which surpasses the club’s goal of $60,000 for the 60th auction. Add-on items can be contributed by contacting a Rotarian. For this year’s auction, the retail values for all items as listed in the auction supplement have been rounded to the nearest whole dollar.
Bids can be made for any items by calling the Rotary Auction room at 521-5894. Those outside the local area but in state may call toll free at 1-844-521-5894
Callers are asked to bid of at least 50 percent of the listed value for the items. Some items may carry a higher minimum, which will be indicated in the supplement. Bids will be taken in whole dollar increments to assist programming and tracking of bids. This year’s phone sponsor is First Choice Real Estate.
Individuals calling in should give the Rotarian on the phone the item number they are bidding on and the amount of their bid along with their name and phone number. The bids are then posted on a status board. The status board will be available for viewing online. The bids are subsequently taken to the on-air auctioneers who will read the bids and indicate if they are high, low or even. The auction room is located in Watson Hall and the public is welcome to visit. Bids can be placed from the auction room until three minutes before the close of each half hour. No bids are accepted from the auction room after the 3-minute bell has been rung.
Successful bidders can pick up their items at the auction storeroom sponsored this year by the Katahdin Valley Health Center. The storeroom is also located at Watson Hall in the Episcopal Church on Main Street. The storeroom is open daily during the auction from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and is open the two days following the auction. Specific hours are listed in the auction supplement.
All items should be picked up by the close of the storeroom on Friday, Nov. 27 at 5 p.m. The storeroom phone number is 521-5891. When picking up items, individuals are encouraged to give their name to the storeroom clerk and bring a list of their item numbers with the amount of the successful bids to match up with the storeroom records. Items must be paid for in full at the time of pick-up and payment must be by cash or check.
Members of the local Rotary club run all aspects of the auction including serving as on-air auctioneers. The Rotarian auctioneer schedule for Monday is: 6 p.m., Jane Torres and Matt Nightingale; 6:30 p.m., Paul Adams and Leigh Cummings; 7 p.m., Tony Bowers and Rosa McNally; 7:30 p.m., Elizabeth Dulin and Kelly Ashley; 8 p.m. Andy Mooers and Chris Anderson; 8:30, Dana Delano and Jon McLaughlin; 9 p.m., Torrey Sylvester and Forrest Barnes; 9:30 p.m., Tony Bowers and Rosa McNally; 10 p.m., Scott Dionne and Amy Hocking.
The schedule for Tuesday is: 6 p.m., Kelly Ashley and Elizabeth Dulin; 6:30, Paul Adams and Butch Asselin; 7 p.m., Tony Bowers and Andy Mooers; 7:30 p.m., Scott Dionne and Leigh Cummings; 8 p.m., Torrey Sylvester and Forrest Barnes; 8:30 p.m., Dean Clark and Dana Delano; 9 p.m., Jon McLaughlin and Chris Anderson; 9:30 p.m., Jane Torres and Ellen Schneider; 10 p.m., Amy Hocking and TBA.
The schedule for Wednesday is: 6 p.m., Matt Nightingale and Jane Torres; 6:30 p.m., Butch Asselin and Rosa McNally; 7 p.m., TBA; 7:30 p.m., Dana Delano and Jon McLaughlin; 8 p.m., Scott Dionne and TBA; 8:30 p.m., Chris Anderson and Leigh Cummings; 9 p.m., Frank Thompson and Amy Hocking; 9:30 p.m., Lori Weston and Tammie Mulvey; 10 p.m., Matt Nightingale and Jane Torres. The auctioneer listing is subject to change.
Also part of the annual auction is the Boy and the Boot Endowment Program. Individuals may call in during the auction to pledge a Boy and the Boot statue. The pledge represents a $1,000 contribution to the endowment fund of the Houlton Regional Health Services Foundation, which benefits local healthcare. Some businesses also offer payroll deduction programs for the pledges. At the completion of the pledge, the contributor receives a limited edition pewter replica of the Boy with the Leaking Boot Statue.
In addition, a $500 certificate for product donated by Dead River Company will be given away during the auction. Tickets are available from any Rotarian and will be available at the auction. Tickets are $1 each or books of 6 for $5. The product will be delivered anywhere within the Houlton-Patten Dead River district. The drawing will be held during the final night of the auction.
This being the 60th annual auction, the organizing committee has been planning some special surprises for the event. A special section has been created in the auction supplement honoring the club’s longest term members and featuring pictures from auctions over the years. The club will also hold a $60 drawing each night. The winners will be selected from each night’s successful bidders with Rotarians being removed from the running. Other surprises are being worked on.
The Houlton Rotary Club extends its thanks to all of the generous businesses and individuals who contributed items to this year’s auction and encourage the public to call in and enjoy the auction by bidding on the many items available.
Further information on the Rotary Radio and TV Auction is available by contacting auction chair Matt Nightingale, club president Jane Torres or any member of the Houlton Rotary Club.
