Booster Radio Auction has another successful run with $8,500 result

Posted February 19, 2013 at 7:40 pm

Surrounded with a still struggling economy in and around Albany and Clinton County, last week’s Clinton County High School Basketball Booster Club / WANY Radio Auction was a little off the mark from the record setting effort of last year.

Still, organizers were well pleased when the final tally came in earlier this week from Friday’s fundraiser, producing roughly $8,500 from the benefit radio auction.

A joint effort between local businesses, individuals and professionals on the commerce side, combined with the organizational and production efforts from coaches, players, parents, fans and volunteers collecting donations and staging the five-hour long program itself, Friday night’s result will once again provide an extra “boost” for the Lady Bulldog and Bulldog basketball program.

The funds raised Friday night are used totally to benefit the local high school basketball program which must compete against schools from much larger communities with much larger economic support bases.

“Last year’s auction netted us a record amount that we had not really been close to since the event first began some 30 years ago,” long-time co-host Al Gibson noted this week after learning of the net take for this year’s auction. “While you would always like to do better each year than the past year, I don’t think anyone was really disappointed with this year’s result.”

Last year’s radio auction was the all-time record setting year with several factors coming together to produce the event’s largest ever result as far as the amount of funds that were raised – roughly $11,600.

Gibson said he thought the still struggling economy was a big reason for the smaller bottom line auction result this time around, noting that not only were items that were donated to the program fewer and smaller, but the bidding process was much slower than in past years.

Still he and other organizers expressed their gratitude in the local business and professional community coming together with the Booster Club members to make the program another huge success for this sector of our county’s youth.

“When it’s all said and done, and you’re packing everything away and you realize that you’ve done something good again to benefit our community’s number one resource – the youth – then you know the effort was totally worth it,” Gibson said.

Both the Bulldogs and Lady Bulldog varsity program are competing this week in the 16th District Tournament in Burkesville. The boys’ varskity won it’s opening round game Monday night against Metcalfe County to advance to the championship game Thursday. The Lady Dawgs played in opening round action Tuesday night, too late for coverage this week.

At the auction . . .

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Volunteers and participants crowded into the Clinton County High School cafeteria last Friday night during the CCHS Basketball Booster Club / WANY Radio Auction annual fundraising event.

In the top photo, Bulldog basketball players Cole Nelson, Glen England and Parker Means manned the telephones to take bids from callers hoping to win items being auctioned, as a large crowd of people can be seen in the background. Above, Lady Bulldog assistant coach Bozie York worked to move merchandise that was being auctioned, in this case, a large bag of dog food that had just been sold.

Below, Pat Campbell and Bulldog assistant coach Nick Irwin kept up with incoming bids on a large marker board during one segment of the program.

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