When Alexis McCleary arrived early at the Second Annual Montgomery County Senior Center Paddle Auction on June 3 at the Old Settlers Picnic Grounds in New Florence, she saw a huge crowd.

“When we got here at 6:20 p.m., I thought that 40 minutes before the event, it would be plenty of time,” the High Hill resident said. “But there were like 100 people here.”

Two hours before the auction began at 7 p.m., numerous people lined up to get a colored all-in paddle, which costs $75. There were only 50 available.

Even though she had to go through a long line, McCleary still got an all-in paddle.

“I was one of the last ones,” McCleary said.

McCleary won a pair of prizes at the three-and-an-hour event – a model car and a Bundy’s gift card.

McCleary said she was glad she went to the fundraising event. The Paddle Auction raised $13,000, a $3,000 increase from last year.

“It’s for a really good cause,” McCleary said.

More than 140 items were donated to this year’s auction, five of them had a value of $100 or more. Numerous people from all over Montgomery County bid on items such as baskets, chairs, bikes and Montgomery County Fair season tickets.

Ruth Devlin was one of the first people to show up at the auction at 5 p.m. and bought two all-in paddles, one for her and the other for her daughter-in-law, Nicole Devlin, who wasn’t able to attend.

Ruth won a total of seven prizes, including a birdcage, a yard flamingo and a pineapple upside down cake. She said she was happy the Senior Center brought the auction back this year.

“It’s great that they came up with this,” Ruth said.

Staff members of the Senior Center came up with the idea of having the Paddle Auction last year.

“We used to have chicken dinners and we used to make $2,500 from the chicken dinners,” Director Jill Burch said. “It took four days to get the chicken dinners ready. It was hard work and it took a lot of help. Everyone was getting older and nobody wanted to do it. So Jessica (Fischer of Senior Health Consultants) and I were at a board meeting and we were like, ‘We could come up with something else besides chicken dinners.’”

Whenever all-in paddles are not available, participants can still buy a regular paddle for $10. But in order to bid on an item, they have to put a certain amount of quarters in a bucket, depending on the value of the item.

Ken Day, a Mineola resident, was the first person to win a prize at the auction. He won a metal American flag that had a value of $100. He put four quarters in a bucket to bid on the item. After his paddle was drawn, he won the item.

Day wished he could have come early enough to get the all-in paddle. It guarantees participants an automatic prize if their paddles are drawn, and there is no need to put any quarters in a bucket to bid on items.

“I got here too late,” Day said.

There was also a live auction that included items such as quilts, mulch baskets and a ham that was donated by Spencer Hicks. Leo Bader was the auctioneer.

The Paddle Auction ended at 10:30 p.m., with Hicks auctioning himself for a date night. Burch won the bid.
Burch, who took over director duties last year, said this year’s auction was a successful one.

“It took a lot of volunteers and donations to pull this off,” she said. “I really appreciated everything.”