Benefit Dinner & Auction raises $40,000 for Swift family

Steve Salins, Reporter | Last updated Dec 19, 2019 3:11pm0

Journal photo by Steve Salins count

The community showed up in enormous numbers to support one of their own at the Larry Swift Benefit Dinner & Auction on the night of Jan. 26. Swift, the Director of Public Works for the City of Ritzville, has been in a fight against cancer.

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So ... you couldn't find an evening parking spot anywhere near downtown Ritzville last Saturday evening? Hordes of people streaming toward the Legion Hall? Well, you just got caught in a small town's heartfelt appreciation for one of their own who needed a bit of support in his fight against cancer.

The Legion Hall was stuffed with dinner tables, auction items and more than 200 citizens who came to pay tribute and raise funds to benefit Larry Swift, the long-time Director of Ritzville's Public Works Department.

Sharon Oestreich, chair of the group to put on the benefit, described Larry as a "h...