FORKS — The Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction will sell more than 1,000 items or experiences this weekend to benefit Forks High School graduates.
The 54th annual Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction will be from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Forks High School Commons, 261 Spartan Ave.
It will be broadcast live by KBDB 96.7 FM.
Among donations that will be auctioned are a car from Wilder Auto, fishing trips, a two-day guided bear hunt, a time share for seven days in Seaside, Ore., firewood and special furniture made by Olympic Correctional Center inmates, according to Jerry Leppell, president of the Scholarship Auction board.
More items can be seen on the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction Facebook page.
Bids can be made in person or by phone. Phone numbers for making bids are 360-374-6262, ext. 228 and ext. 229.
“It takes everybody to do this,” Leppell said. “We all appreciate the donations. It doesn’t have to be a big item.”
The annual two-day fundraiser brings in money for Forks High School graduates, who can apply for scholarships to business school, trade school, beauty school or college at graduation or anytime in the future. The auction is organized by members of the graduating class.
More than $1.8 million has been granted in scholarships throughout the years.
The original organizers of the scholarship fund felt that because of the remoteness of the community the cost of college or trade school education was not always within reach for many Forks families, according to the Forks Forum.
In February 1964, the first meeting of the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Fund Corporation and various contract logging operators was held at the Vagabond cafe to begin the drive among local industries for scholarship funds.
Robert Rosmond, chairman for industrial contacts, conducted the meeting. It was decided that any young person with “promise and need” would get a scholarship; the immediate goal was $1,000. The kickoff dinner was at the Russ Thomas home.
Throughout the years, dinners were phased out and the radio format took over. By 1980, the event had moved to the Northwestern National Bank, which it eventually outgrew. It was offered for many years at the Bank of America Building and in 2012 was moved to Forks High School.
In 1987, the Olympic Correction Center inmates began creating items for the auction. Over the years, those items have contributed thousands of dollars to the fund.
In 1998, a new record was set — $58,000 — in just two days.
In 2008, the auction took in more than $71,000; a basket donated by Muriel Huggins brought in $3,100.
This year, the event will once again be hosted by Forks High School, with the Senior Parents providing concessions for hungry bidders and proceeds going to Senior Safe Night.
Donations for this year’s auction will be accepted up to and on the day of the auction, said Cheri Dahlgren, board secretary.
Last year the auction saw an all-time record take of $130,000. Leppell hopes to set a new record this year.
The Olympic Peninsula Guides’ Association offered some of its donated items in an online auction that has closed.
Leppell said he does not yet know how much the group raised.
“They’re going to surprise us,” he said.
Donations to the auction — which are tax-deductible — may be dropped off at the high school front office or picked up by arrangement.
For more information, contact a student coordinator: Savanah Norbisrath, 360-640-1408, Marshal Grant 360-640-9701, and Taegan Counsell 360-640-9563. Adult committee members are Leppell 360-640-1849, Dahlgren 360-640-0535 and Vice President JoMarie Miller 360-460-4326.
Laura Decker and Ralph Warren look over some of last year’s objects up for auction at the annual Quillayute Valley School Scholarship auction. (Lonnie Archibald/for Peninsula Daily News)
