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Long
before the actual event, there is a lot of planning that goes into
the annual Pink Pumpkin Fundraiser Auction to Benefit the American
Cancer Society.
There are meetings of the planning committee that this year
consisted of Karen Castelein, Annie Coers, Cindy Guyett, Jennifer
Luckhart, Angela Reiners and Nila Smith. At those meetings there are
a variety of topics that have to be discussed.
The first meeting is always to talk about what went right at the
last event, what went not so well, and what needs to be done to make
it all better. Always at the forefront is trying to come up with a
better way to make check out at the end of the night easier and more
streamlined. Each year, the committee comes up with a new or at
least modified plan for that in the hopes that they will some day
get it just right.
Then there are the lists of things to do in preparation for the
night of the event. Arranging for tables, chairs, and volunteers.
Making a list of possible businesses, organizations, and individuals
that can be counted on to donate items for both the live and silent
auctions and talking about food and beverages to be served are also
important lists that are compiled.
Then as the weeks progress, items on those lists are checked off and
new items are added until the committee reaches a point where they
feel they are as prepared as they can possibly be. That feeling
comes about an hour before the doors open at Collision Concepts on
auction night.
This year, the committee was
blessed with some unexpected help, such as the digital billboard on
Woodlawn Road, where the ad for the auction was placed courtesy of
the event auctioneer, Ty Tucker.
Annie Coers, from the first
National Bank of Tremont, also promoted the event on their digital
sign at the Lincoln Banking Center on Woodlawn Road.
Collision Concepts went pink on its
digital sign.
Lincoln Daily News posted their
sandwich sign on the sidewalk in front of the office on Broadway
Street in Lincoln and also did regular advertising in LDN for about
six weeks prior to the auction.
Noah Atkinson at Lincoln Printers has a big role in the work of the
planning committee each year and is standing at the ready to provide
what is needed in the line of yard signs, and other materials.
Part of the final countdown a few
days prior to the auction is the placement of roadside signage
printed by Atkinson.
At the corner of the front lawn of
Collision Concepts large banners are set in the ground, adding
another layer of promotion, courtesy of Lincoln Printers.
Throughout those weeks before the auction, items are coming in and
stored at LDN. There are photos taken of each donation, and a
catalog constructed to be a guide for the night of the auction as to
what is a silent auction item, what is live auction, and who was the
donor.
Then, when the day arrives, there is a flurry of activity as all the
bits and pieces of the auction come together in the body shop area
of Collision Concepts.
Right after lunch on auction day,
the shop is emptied out of all the vehicles being worked on along
with all the tools and equipment that is not stationary to the
building. The floors are polished one last time and all is made
super clean.
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Tables are brought in from the
Logan County Fairgrounds by Brad Matthews and his crew. The staff at
Collision and the Mathews crew get everything set up then tables are
swiped clean and covered in preparation for the displaying of
auction items.
Chairs are donated for the evening
by Peasley Funeral Homes in Lincoln and hauled in and set up by
Collision crew.
The large parts room in the front
half of the Collision building is also cleaned to perfection and set
up with tables where food will be served throughout the evening.
One of the offices is filled with
balloons filled with helium donated by NAPA Auto Parts in Lincoln.
Those will be brought out after all the auction items are placed to
help decorate the tables for the event.
The Matthews crew hauled in all the
auction items from LDN and the Collision crew helped get everything
placed on tables. Nuthatch Hill arrived with food and started
setting up and the posed photo location was set up and ready for the
arrival of guests.
There were also tables that had to be set up for the sale of
luminaria and mystery bags. Computers were used this year for check
out along with a Square credit/debit card processor. All those had
to be set up and ready for the evening.
By 4:30 p.m. everything was coming together nicely. Volunteers were
arriving to take their place at specific work areas.
Bill Post and Tonita Reifsteck took
their standard location at the luminaria sales table.
Mike and Nancy Cunningham and Janice Funk took charge of the mystery
bag table.
Annie Coers was stationed in the
front lobby, handing out paddles along with pamphlets about the work
done by the American Cancer Society around the world, across the
country, in Illinois and in Logan County.
Food was laid out, and all was as
good as it was going to get for the 2025 Pink Pumpkin Auction. The
only thing left was the arrival of guests when the doors opened at 5
p.m.
There was no time wasted in that
area, even before 5 p.m. guests were in the house shopping the
silent auction items, taking a look at the live auction items,
enjoying the great food and drink, and anxiously awaiting 6:15 p.m.
when the life auction would begin.
[Nila Smith] |
