HOULTON, Maine — In a raucous battle of the paddle, Jacob Pelkey was crowned Spud Stud King 2024 after his proposed horseback riding date pushed a $20 starting bid up to $120 at Bastions Tavern in downtown Houlton on Friday night.
“Are you ready for some hotties?”asked MC Johanna Johnston as the night’s bidding on bachelors began.
The first ever Spuds & Studs Bachelor Auction fundraiser sponsored by the Community Impact Alliance, a group of local business owners and leaders who want to support community events, featured 10 brave pre-registered bachelors promising rustic to romantic dates.
And as the crowds’ cheers, taunts and whistles egged the bachelors to dance, flex some muscle and blow kisses to the crowd, they coaxed two more bachelors from the audience for bidding.
“Come on, take off your shirt,” they teased.
And as auctioneers, Johnston and Jared Tapley kept things moving at a fast clip, they pushed bidders higher.
“Ranging in age from 21 to 66, the bachelors were in competitive demand on Friday night with other high bids at $80, $60 and $40.
Notoriously animated bachelor auctions are famous for raising large amounts of cash for charitable causes. Take Boston’s Junior League Bachelor Auction, for example. Last year it raised over $30,000, according to the Junior League.
Proceeds from the Houlton auction will help fund future local free community events and programs.
The Spud Stud Bachelor lineup included Brenyn Johnson, 25, a Dish Network technician; Brandon Hafford, 38, a Department of Defense manager; Otis Edgecomb, 34, a community educator; Benjamin Yeager, 51, a network manager; Aidan Jackman, 21, direct support professional; Bob Lorom, 57, a fiscal assistant; Mason Van Zile, 25, a heavy equipment operator; Richard Weston, 66. Retired; Jerrod Whitney, 42, a consumer safety officer; Jacob Pelkey, 31, a program manager. Jamal Gould and Sean Mewman, who were pulled from the crowd, each drew high bids of $80 and $60 for dates of the bidder’s choosing.
“I’ll give her whatever she wants,” Mewman said.
The offbeat and innovative date slate included bowling in Caribou, roller skating, a couples kayak excursion, ATVing, horseback riding, a trip to Bangor’s Hollywood Casino, followed by picnics, dining out or ice cream under the stars.
Johnson asked bachelor Reichard Weston how he likes to treat a woman.
“Like a queen,” he said, winning him a room full of hoots and claps and a $40 bid.
