FORKS — The Quillayute Valley Scholarship Auction this weekend will have something to please everyone. From meat smokers to sports memorabilia to clothing and food, the two-day auction will be jam-packed with items.
The live auction will run from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday at the Bank of America building, 81 S. Forks Ave. For those unable to attend the auction, organizers plan to offer bidding via the auction’s Facebook profile at http://tinyurl.com/4b8wuyu.
Not all the items had been delivered by Thursday but will be photographed and posted as they can be, said Jerry Leppell, president of the scholarship committee.
The money will go into a scholarship fund available to any Forks High School graduate.
Leppell said he always has a goal to beat last year’s numbers.Last year’s auction raised $67,000, and Leppell said he is rallying the town to raise more this year.
“That is always my goal,” he said.
“It is a matter of motivating people and getting people out there and getting the fever going — and getting people to get out them wallets.”
Antiques, OCC items
“We have quite a few antiques, wooden items donated by Olympic Corrections Center, quite a bit of sports memorabilia clear down to strawberry tarts,” Leppell added.
Many of the items haven’t arrived yet.
“We never know until 9 a.m. on Saturday,” Leppell said. “Some of the food items are probably being cooked up right now.”
Donations will be accepted right up to the day of the event.
The scholarships, issued for up to four years of schooling, can be used for college or technical school or for any kind of job training.
The auction began in 1963 through a committee called the Quillayute Valley Scholarship Fund.
Muriel Huggins annually donates a Native American woven basket from her collection. Last year, her basket brought in $3,000.
A baseball autographed by Willie Mays, who was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979, was collected by the seniors who are helping to coordinate the auction, Brian Santman, Brigitte Paul and Taylor Morris. Three other autographed baseballs — signed by Pete Rose, Bob Feller and Andre Dawson — were donated by Lori Norvell of Plano, Texas.
Rose, who in 1985 passed Ty Cobb to become baseball’s career leader in hits, was banned from the Hall of Fame for betting on baseball as a manager of the Cincinnati Reds. Dawson, a center and right fielder, was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010. Feller, a pitcher, was inducted into it in 1962.
Norvell, who became interested in the area after reading the Twilight saga, donated baseballs to last year’s auction, vowing to do so for this year as well.
The items for the auction will be photographed and posted at www.qvsdauction.com, and a live video feed will run of the auction at that website.
Visa and MasterCard are accepted, and for those bidding long-distance, the items can be shipped if a credit card is provided, Leppell said.
Auctioneers for the year include Forks-area residents Quileute Child Care Director Penny Winn, Forks Middle School Principal Patti Fouts, Quillayute Valley Superintendent Diana Reaume, Forks High School Principal Rex Weltz, Director of the Olympic Peninsula Visitor Bureau Diane Schostak, Forks High School Attendance Secretary Sarah Decker, Sandy Heinrich and Dave McIrvin of the Quillayute Valley School District, Forks High School boys basketball coach Scott Justus, Cathy Johnson, Patty Brandt, Phil Kitchell and Forks City Attorney Rod Fleck.
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Reporter Paige Dickerson can be reached at 360-417-3535 or at paige.dickerson@peninsuladailynews.com.
