Annual Meeting Silent Auction
 

One of the highly anticipated segments of our Annual Meeting Banquet is the Silent Auction. The auction allows banquet attendees the opportunities to buy some very desirable items at exceptional bargain prices but when the bidding really gets heated over some of the items the bid amounts can even surpass their anticipated values. All of the auction items are donated either by PGCA Members or by businesses catering to the tastes of the vast majority of our members. We depend heavily on the Silent Auction and on those folks who make these great donations which help sustain the day-to-day business expenses of the PGCA. (of the three major fund-raising venues, the silent auction is the smallest revenue generator, the raffle gun and research letters earning far more) Of the $40 annual dues, nearly $30 goes to cover Parker Pages, so it is easy to see why we depend so heavily on these fund-raising activities. (we have recently re-negotiated with our publisher and are receiving the same excellent service from them at a substantial savings)

We are beginning to receive donations for the 2014 Silent Auction an one of them is a guided snipe hunt with lodging included and we expect to receive other high quality donations as well.

We are however, beginning to experience a bit of a problem at the silent auction and that is the overabundance of small, less desirable items. Last year's auction consisted of well over one-hundred items (which all had to be valued, logged into the spread sheet in the computer, tagged, placed on the tables with a bid sheet) and roughly thirty items never received a single bid.:crying:
These unsold items then have to be packed back up again and brought home with someone (usually Larry and Deb Frey) and then to decide if they should be put out for next year's auction.

What we're trying to say is that while we appreciate these donations more than you can know :bowdown:, we are asking that those who are planning to donate items please keep this in mind and ask themselves if other members will really find those small items desirable enough to place a bid.

We would like to say in advance "Thank you very much for your generosity!"

Your auction item donations may be sent to either Larry or myself.

Dean, can you bundle some of those small items together, like they do at some auctions, bid on this box of 5 or 10 items instead of putting them out separately. Just a thought

Eric has a good idea. Also maybe offer some as door prizes?

I think those are both good ideas. Bundling the items that didn't receive bids last year is certainly something we will consider.

And we have discussed door prizes too.

Thanks guys.

Linda says that since we have so much extra room for gun stuff in our house that I could make you a lowball offer for all the extra stuff we have accumulated. Let me know what you think of that idea.

"Lowball offer" coming from a self-proclaimed "bottom feeder"... I'm afraid to ask :rotf:

Contact Linda. She is the one who wants some more bird hunting and Parker related stuff in our house.

One of the early items donated is from Member Bob Hayes, owner of Little Lake Lodge in Okeechobee, Florida, and is a gift certificate for two snipe hunts with two nights lodging.

Thanks very much Bob for your generosity.

We depend entirely on donations for the annual Silent Auction so please see my opening post to learn where to send these items. Thanks to all!



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Dean,Everyone
I just noticed an error on the certificate.The website is www.littlelakelodge.net
Sorry in a hurry to get that to you for auction and took it for granted I had no mistakes.Anyhow we are much better hunting guides than spellers.
Season for snipe here is Nov.1st through Feb.15th. with hunting best in Dec. and Jan. usually.Nov. is good but can be hot.

Bob,
Thank you for that generous donation. :bowdown: