Dollar, dollar, give me a dollar! Sold! Friday was AMBUCS Charity Auction once again.
Hundreds of people came to the Memorial Arena to look, bid and take home bargains. The auction helps support local charities. The proceeds of Friday night’s event will go to help the Boys and Girls clubs, Pekin YWCA, AmTrykes for handicapped children, AMBUCS Good Bears, scholarships for therapists and other local charities. Rows and rows of tables were filled with many items, new and still in boxes. People milled around the tables and furniture, and of course they stopped by to see the three-wheeled motorcycles that would be auctioned toward the end of the evening. Ron Harlan, auction chair for AMBUCS, was in charge of the bidding numbers given to individuals to use for the bidding process. A picture identification and phone number was all that was needed. “The auction is always scheduled the first Friday in May and is our only fundraiser. We usually bring in approximately $35,000 per year. That gives us the opportunity to help in many ways. The crowd has been coming in steady tonight. We have already given out 5 or 600 bid numbers,” said Harlan. Rex Thorpe of Pekin is an RSVP (Retired Senior Volunteer Program) volunteer. “This is my first year to help. I will be holding up the items so the people will see what they are bidding on. I usually help with the Red Cross but there are plenty of ways to volunteer. It is much better than sitting around and doing nothing. Volunteers are needed everywhere. I am glad to help,” said Thorpe.
Don and Sue Alcock came to the auction for the first time. He and his wife saw it advertised in the newspaper and decided they wanted to come. They even bought their raffle tickets in advance for the 42-inch plasma TV. “I never got to come before because I worked second shift. I retired April 1 and I am doing some of things I have never had the opportunity to do before,” said Don.