The Carlyle Lions continued their history of fundraising successes with their 21st annual dinner and auction held at Memorial Hall in Carlyle on Thursday, March 1st.
The Carlyle Lions Club International has had a commendable history of fundraising and donating back to the community for large civil projects, like Lions Park, as well as more personal charity, such as guide and support dogs for people in the region dealing with the effects of disability.
The dinner, which is held on the first Thursday of March every year, is the largest fundraiser the organization runs annually, and brought in a whopping $33,000 last year.
This year's event, which had more than 160 sponsors, also saw a great deal of money raised for charitable projects, including a near-record price paid for one of the auction items.
The total funds raised this year was a record for the Lions however, with the total pegged at $37,000.
The 225-seat event was sold out, as it is every year, and the item which brought the most attention, as well as the peaked interest in the live auction portion of the night, was a mounted and framed autographed Bobby Orr Bruins jersey.
Running the live auction for the evening, for the 17th straight year was Carlyle native and award winning auctioneer Ward Cutler.
Following an opening introduction by emcee Wayne Wilson, who is also the chair for the Lions dinner committee, as well as the Lions president this year, the dinner of pork and fixings was served.
As in past years, the pork for the dinner was donated by Jack Wilson, and the dinner was prepared by Eileen Corrigan and Linda Chapman and their staff, the 7th year the pair have prepared the supper.
Following the dinner, the live auction portion of the evening opened up with a bang, and the items continued to go at exceptionally generous prices throughout the evening.
Working the crowd hard, and supported by long-time Carlyle Lion Gord Paulley and others, Cutler managed to bring the bids up on numerous items.
A coupon donated by JJ Trucking for 25 yards of gravel sold for $700; a vibrating recliner chair donated by Artisan Consulting sold for $900; a heavy-duty generator from Free Mantle Petroleum went at $1,050; and a pale leather love seat and chesterfield set sold for $1,250.
The real big sale of the night was saved for the Bobby Orr jersey however, and the bidding went hot and high.
Few seemed surprised when the item broke the $1,000 mark, and it was likewise with little comment it passed the $2,000 mark.
However, reaching the rarefied level of $3,000, people watched the proceedings with intensive interest.
The bidding continued, down to just two competing individuals, with the hammer finally falling at a near record selling price of $3,300.
"I can only remember one other sale that went higher than that," said long-time Lion George Anderson. "It was a golf cart, and that sold for $4,500 or something like that."
"But this is definitely the biggest price on something in years."
Like the live auction, both the silent auction and the raffle tables raised a considerable amount of money for the Carlyle Lions, which will be sure to find its way back to the community through projects and charitable works in the coming year.
Last year, the Lions disbursed more than $70,000 back to the community through donations and projects.
Some of the larger projects included works at the Lions Park, the addition of a bathroom and changing room.
Also this past year, the Lions donated the funds for the animal and parallel training for a seizure dog for a Susan Robinson, who will be heading to Oakville, Ontario in the next couple of weeks for her familiarization training with her new companion.
Out of the $37,000 raised this year, an estimated $26,000 came from the live auction, and $5,000 and $6,000 for the silent auction and the raffle respectively.
(see more photos in this week's Observed At photo gallery)
