Vine Grove auction supports Christmas for children

Cakes sell for less than $20 in the grocery bakery section, but bidding started at $100 for a German Chocolate cake Thursday at Vine Grove City Hall.

Jill Pickett

Hardin County Chief Deputy Coroner Ken Spangenberger, right, yells out Thursday as a participant makes the first bid on an item during the annual auction at Vine Grove City Hall for the Christmas for the Children program.

Buy this photo

Jill Pickett

Donna Skeeters scans the items up for auction before the bidding starts Thursday during the annual event to raise money for the Christmas for the Children program at Vine Grove City Hall.

Buy this photo

Jill Pickett

Vine Grove Mayor Blake Proffitt holds up pieces of a wooden train set for prospective bidders to see Thursday during the annual auction for the Christmas for the Children program at Vine Grove City Hall.

Buy this photo

Jill Pickett

Hardin County Clerk Kenny Tabb, right, closes the bidding on an item as David Catlett, left, keeps an eye on the crowd for any bids Thursday during the annual auction for the Christmas for the Children program at Vine Grove City Hall.

Buy this photo

Bids quickly climbed to $200, then $300 and up by $100 increments until the offer reached $700.

The cake was one of the items that started a small bidding war at the annual auction and chili dinner for the Christmas for the Children program.

The auction goes to help buy toys and clothes for children in the community identified by school resource centers as being in need.

Mayor Blake Proffitt thanked donors and bidders for supporting the cause that drew more people than there were chairs to seat them.

“These are people from in and around town who care about this community, care about kids,” he said.

Other top sellers included $260 for a spice cake topped by a Christmas scene and $125 for a white Christmas tree.

After one of Hardin Memorial Hospital Community Relations Coordinator Barbara Proffitt’s pies sold for $150, attendees cheered to urge bids on the other two to get as high.

Charlotte and Jerry Glass of Vine Grove donated a Christmas jar to the auction.

The couple has attended and helped set up the event for each of the past 10 years.

Charlotte Glass said the dinner and auction is a great event to visit people the couple doesn’t often see and watch the bids on items climb.

“It’s a good thing to see how generous people are,” she said.

Jerry Glass said he and his wife especially enjoy listening to the cake auction and the couple of bakers whose wares seem to be particularly in demand.

“We just like to come and enjoy the festivities,” he said.

Donna Skeeters of Vine Grove came prepared to buy a black walnut cake she had taken home the previous two years. She secured an Italian cream cake for her sister on a bidding conflict that rose from $100 to $150.

Skeeters was prepared to spend $200 on the black walnut cake that she said is delicious, like all the cakes auctioned at the event.

“You can’t get a bad one,” she said.

Skeeters said the reason she was willing to put up big numbers for the sweets is that the auction was for a worthy cause.

“I just like to support Vine Grove in general,” she said.

John and Laura Mayes of Vine Grove visited the auction for the second time to visit with friends and neighbors and support their son, Michael, as he volunteered with his fellow Boy Scouts.

Laura Mayes also had her eye on a wreath on which she thought she might bid.

The auction was fun and the cause was special because everyone deserves to have a good Christmas, she said.

Michael said it made him feel good to help at an event that assists other members of his community.

Amber Coulter can be reached at (270) 505-1746 or acoulter@thenewsenterprise.com.