by Carla Ruschival
The fifth annual Holiday Auction, held on Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016, was full of fun and surprises.
The Holiday Auction Committee began its work in August. Articles appeared in the Forum; notices were posted on ACB e-mail lists requesting donations; and details were reviewed to make the event as successful as possible.
From September until mid-November, the phones rang and e-mail arrived telling us about great items that were coming from both individuals and affiliates. It was like Christmas every day in our Minneapolis office. Descriptions were written, photos taken, and items posted to the Auction Preview Page on ACB’s web site.
The evening arrived. People across the country had visited the preview page and were ready to bid on their favorite items. The Twitter team was tweeting; Facebook posts had been posted; promotional e-mails were all over the ACB lists. The Minneapolis office was ready to process payments and ship items to the lucky winners.
The auction broadcast team was in place at the iHeartMedia studios in Louisville, Ky. It was 7 p.m. Eastern — Holiday Auction time on ACB Radio. People were listening on the Internet; people were listening on the phones. ACB president Kim Charlson was on the air, welcoming everyone to the big event. It was time for the bidding to begin.
Bidding was often fast and furious. The auction was scheduled to end at midnight Eastern, or when all items were sold. We actually went off the air at 1 a.m. The bidding was over; every item had sold.
An auction must have two things to be successful — donors and bidders. 45 individuals, affiliates and businesses contributed items and cash. A huge thanks to our generous 2016 donors: ACB Lions; ACB Students; ACB Mini Mall; ACB of Minnesota; Arizona Council of the Blind; Bay State Council of the Blind; Nancy Becker; Margarine Beaman; Keri Bishop; Blind Alive; Blind Information Technology Specialists (BITS); Kathy Brandt; Brian Charlson, Kim Charlson and Vicki Vogt; Council of Citizens with Low Vision International (CCLVI); Patti Cox; Florida Council of the Blind; Greater Louisville Council of the Blind; Guide Dog Users, Inc. (GDUI), DeAnna Noriega, and Gretchen Maune; Mike Hartwig; Debbie Hazelton; Kim Hebert; George Holliday; Illinois Council of the Blind and Rachel Schroeder; Connie Jacomini; Kentucky Council of the Blind; Library Users of America (LUA); Marlaina Lieberg; Sharon Lovering; Marlaina’s Mediterranean Kitchen; Michigan Council of the Blind and Visually Impaired; Rick Morin; Nevada Council of the Blind and Janet Dickelman; Sue Olson; Carla Ruschival; Bill Sparks; Dan and Leslie Spoone; Tennessee Council of the Blind; Jeff and Leslie Thom; Kitty Van Gunten, and Washington Council of the Blind.
Many, many generous people from across the United States bid throughout the evening; 48 extremely generous folks won items in the 2016 auction. Those winners were: Bob Acosta, Ruth Ann Acosta, Donna Brown, Karyn Campbell, Ray Campbell, Berl Colley, Denise Colley, Maryann Cowfer, Vickie Curley, Debbie Deatherage, Chris Devin, Dan Dillon, Judy Dixon, Margie Donovan, Steve Dresser, Brent Ford, Cari Ford, Katie Frederick, Peggy Garrett, Mary Haroyan, Marian Haslerud, Patty Jacobsen, Connie Jacomini, Richard Johnson, Cecilia Lee, Deb Cook Lewis, Marlaina Lieberg, Jean Mann, Scott Marshall, Oral Miller, Trena Muncy, Donna Permar, Andrea Pitsenbarger, Mark Richert, Mary Riley, Richard Rueda, Rachel Schroeder, Ralph Smitherman, Christopher Soldan, Leslie Spoone, Kelly Stanfield, Jeff Thom, Leslie Thom, Vicki Vogt, Elaine Weisbard, Gary Wood, Vivian Younger, and Vita Zavoli.
As of this writing (mid-January), the books are not quite closed on the auction. But we know that the 2016 Holiday Auction raised approximately $12,500. What a great expression of support for ACB Radio!
As chair of the ACB Radio Holiday Auction Committee, I thank everyone who worked so hard to make this auction a success. A huge thanks goes to committee vice chair Brian Charlson and members Keri Bishop, Patti Cox, Marlaina Lieberg, Larry Turnbull, and Paula Wiese for their help and support; to ACB staff Lori Sarff, Dee Theien and Kelly Gasque for their tireless help with all things auction (descriptions, photos, web page posting, shipping and accounting); to Larry Turnbull, ACB Radio Managing Director, for instruction and support for the auction web pages; and to iHeartMedia for the use of their studio. A tremendous thank-you goes to the broadcast team who handled six hours of on-air time and telephone bidding: Patti Cox and Paula Wiese on the phones; Michael McCarty on air with me, keeping listeners up to date on bidding and buying; and Michael McCarty and Jim Fenn getting the live feed out of Louisville through the Radio Storm to Larry Turnbull in Illinois, who monitored the entire operation and made sure you could listen over ACB Radio and Audio Now.
The ACB Radio Holiday Auction Committee is looking forward to the 2017 extravaganza, and we hope you are, too.