April 24, 2008

Wampum auction to benefit local fair

A night of food and tempting auction items is on tap at the 2008 Wampum this Saturday, April 26, at the Knuth Building on the fairgrounds.

Advance tickets are $15 per person and available at Designer Carpets and Interiors and the Ritzville Area Chamber of Commerce, Java Bloom in Washtucna, Jim’s Market in Lind and from fair board members.

The event kicks off with a social hour and silent auction at 6 p.m. A dinner catered by Nancy Meise of Washtucna follows at 6:30 p.m. Lind Learners 4-H Club is providing decorations.

Warren Kragt will open the live auction at 7 p.m., with entertainment and queen coronation rounding out the affair.

The 2007 outgoing royalty of Queen Christyn Oestreich (Ritzville) and princesses Stephanie Sanchez (Washtucna), Kimi Bolton (Washtucna) and Stephanie Donaldson (Lind) will make its final appearance that night.

Auction items include an airplane ride for two from Stan Dammel, four Red level Spokane Chiefs tickets, pair of tickets to a Spokane Symphony Sunday classic, 10 tickets to the Combine Demolition Extravaganza by the Lind Lions Club;

Children’s pedal tractor and trailer from Ritzville Warehouse/Odessa Trading Co., two 18-hole rounds of golf at the Ritzville Municipal Golf Course, 100 pounds of lawn fertilizer from the McGregor Company;

Thirty pounds of fresh picked asparagus from Camille Nelson, two tons of hay from Bar U Ranch and a mechanic’s creeper from NAPA/Ritzville Parts House to name a few.

The Peace by Piece Quilt Guild is providing a red, white and blue quilt while individual members have stitched a table runner, quilted pillows, quilted wall hangings, a quilt and a quilted mini wall hanging.

Monies raised at Wampum provide vital funds to keep the fair running. Started more than 25 years ago, Wampum was created to fill a monetary gap.

“Because the fair was not a county fair, funding for it was removed when it was no longer a county fair,” fair President Fritz Coon explained last year. “I think the Wampum was and always has been keeping the doors open, paying the bills. The fair itself is not a moneymaker. We have to put money into the pot to put on the fair.”

He noted that funds garnered during Wampum are comparable to what the fair pays in premium money. Wampum generates close to one-half of the non-fair income.

Facility updates are planned at the fairgrounds in addition to maintenance and general upkeep. The fair hopes to complete the Knuth Building as funding allows.