The local Kiwanis Club once again is looking to raise money to help district children with its 27th-annual TV auction next Saturday (April 30) on Channel 10.
“I’m hoping we do as well as we did last year,” said Shanda Begin, who is co-organizing the event with Angie Korzinski.
“This is our second-biggest fundraiser of the year behind the ‘Trip of the Month’ draw,” added Begin, who noted the club netted about $12,000 from its TV auction last April.
A first-time co-chair of the TV auction committee, Begin admitted it’s been a lot of work organizing the event, but that it’s definitely been a group effort.
“We’ve been working on it since the beginning of March,” she said. “Everybody’s done their part. There are many Kiwanians who’ve been involved with the TV auction since it started. And that really helps.
“I’m very excited to help organize it this year,” Begin continued. “I’m looking forward to next Saturday.”
Proceeds from the Kiwanis TV auction go towards several causes, the primary one being Sunny Cove Camp, which the Kiwanis adopted from the local Jaycees in 1956.
The club pays about $25,000 a year to keep it going.
As well, the club has made financial commitments to the Riverside Foundation for Health Care and the proposed skate park here, and is a regular donor to the district 4-H and Fort Frances Public Library.
Once again, Kiwanis members have rounded up hundreds of items for bid for the TV auction. Check out the full list in next week’s Times and again in the April 29 edition of the Daily Bulletin.
Begin noted many familiar faces will be on-air for this year’s TV auction, including Dr. Robert Lidkea, club president Robert Sletmoen, Robin Wright, Laurie Walsh, and Alan Zucchiatti.
Viewers also can expect to see some Robert Moore students, who are part of the Kiwanis Builders’ Club, helping out.
The auction will get underway at 1 p.m., following a 10-minute segment introducing the auction and explaining what the Kiwanis Club does with the funds raised.
As in previous years, items will be presented in groups, with “major items” (i.e., those running between $105 and $1,700 in retail value) up for bid between 4:45-6 p.m.
The auction ends at 6 p.m.
Advance telephone bids will be accepted between noon and 1 p.m. on April 30.
Successful bidders will be notified by phone on Saturday as soon as the bidding on the respective item group closes.
They can pick up their goods from the Shaw studio (1037 First St. E.) for a short time after the auction, or, if absolutely necessary, can have Kiwanians deliver them to their homes the next day.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
