by Troy Lesan, Lake Viking
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Over the years the Mary Immaculate Catholic Church Auction has evolved into a semi-annual event of extraordinary significance. Thanks to the exhaustive efforts of many volunteers, the auction held June 8 at the Lake Viking Clubhouse builds on the tradition. Over 400 people attended.
In 2017 over $50,000 was raised. But even as organizers are still counting proceeds, this year’s total revenue could exceed $65,000 — a 30% increase over the record setting total of two years ago.
One reason for this growing success was “Fund-a-Need” where any and all bids from the floor went directly to the Backpack Buddy program. In 2017 over $13,000 was raised for that category; this year that portion of the auction generated $21,000.
The remainder of funds raised by the Mary Immaculate Auction will finance physical improvements to church property. This year’s donated money will be spent on a prayer garden and improvements to make the church more handicapped accessible.
Some of the donated items for the silent and live auctions included rare sippin’ bourbon, Diamond Club seating at a KC Royals game, motor scooters, a Good One smoker, tickets to a USC Notre Dame football game, slabs of ribs, puppies, and so much more.
The highlight of the evening is the live auction. That’s when auctioneer Mark Leggett takes over and works his magic. Mark goes above and beyond the duties of a normal auctioneer — he screams, sweats, cajoles, challenges, incites, cracks jokes … whatever it takes to keep the money rolling in.
The two auction items generating the highest dollar amounts paid were a week at the Zephyr Mountain Lodge in Winter Park and a Patrick Mahomes autographed Chiefs jersey at $2,700 each!
This year’s auction theme was Hawaiian Luau, and decorations reflecting that theme were masterful. Several people wore grass skirts — including the auctioneer. But the most impressive feature of the evening was the overwhelming degree of generosity displayed by both the donors of auction items and the bidders. The event was a resounding success.