Boys & Girls Club Online Auction

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The Boys & Girls Club kicks off its cMarket Online Auction June 1st to benefit Oakhurst Area’s youth. Visit us on the Internet at www.supportbgclub.cmarket.com. There’s truly something for everyone in this auction – from gift certificates at local restaurants and valuable art by local artists, to jewelry, San Francisco Giants tickets, and even a NASCAR hospitality package for the Phoenix race! Buy something for yourself, family, or a friend! The money will be going to a great cause: keeping our Club open for our youth! Auction runs from June 1st through July 1st, but you can VIEW NOW!!

Want to make a donation? It’s not too late – look for the “Donate Now” button on our website.

www.supprtbgclub.cmarket.com
www.supportbgclub.com
www.barneypalooza.com

[rimalicious]

Less than a week until the bidding starts! I am so excited! I hope you all take a look and sign the guestbook to receive updates!

[Mysteefied]

I went on there last week and am even watching some items. Its amazing the neat stuff they have on auction!

[rimalicious]

Thanks Myst!

From today's Sierra Star:

Boys and girls club on-line auction to kick off

By Elizabeth Gabriel

(Updated Wednesday, May 30, 2007, 4:26 PM)

The month long Harry H. Baker Boys & Girls Club online auction doesn't begin until 11:59 p.m. tomorrow, but donated items are pouring in. You can see them on the Web site, www.supportbgclub.cmarket.com. Donors who would like to get in on the auction can do so on the site or call (559) 642-0313.

The goal is to make $30,000 for the club, troubled with budgetary problems. Baker, founder of Sierra Telephone, supported the club with $100,000 per year from its beginnings in 1999 to 2003. The bare-bones cost of keeping the club open is $150,000 per year. There are some grants and donations, but the club needs more money to stay open.

"Everyone I talk to says they want to participate," Rima Burt, boys and girls club secretary and online auction chair, said. "Since that big article ran in the Star (page A1, April 20), awareness (of the club's financial shortfall) has been growing and people keep asking how they can help."

Bidding is but one way. The club also is soliciting sponsorships. On Tuesday, she got word that The Pines Resort at Bass Lake was signing up as a $10,000 platinum sponsor.

"Wouldn't it be nice to have more of those?" she said.

Burt came up with the idea of an online fundraiser by going online.

A company called cMarket runs these auctions for charities and can sweeten the pot by adding consignment-catalog items most non-profits can't get their hands on. There are such things as a Michael Jordan-autographed jump shot film strip from the catalog. If those items sell, the boys and girls club gets the money in excess of the cost.

"If an item doesn't say 'donated by' beside it, it's from the catalog," Burt said.

As of Tuesday, there were 55 items up for bid on the site, and local donors have pitched in with plenty of them. A smattering of items and their donors: a ceramic and copper angel from Mystic Fire; an Archgard Optima gas fireplace insert from Mountain Comforts; a bookcase from One Stop Office Products; a one-night stay at the Oakhurst Days Inn; a photograph of the pier at The Forks at Bass Lake by Jonathan Bock; gift certificates from Three Sisters Cafe and Pizza Factory; a Winnie the Pooh animated talking phone from Sierra Telephone and a half-page ad in the Star.

Local donors can have links to their Web sites and at the end of the bidding, donors will get a report on how many times bidders checked them out.

Things from the consignment catalog include a 1980 "Miracle on Ice" U.S.A. hockey team hand-signed official white Olympic Jersey; a Ben Roethlisberger signed official Pittsburgh Steelers helmet; a framed, John Elway-autographed Denver Broncos blue jersey and a NASCAR 2007 Phoenix Open Experience for two.

Even after bidding opens, the club will continue to accept items for the auction.

Burt said that successful bidders will be notified as soon as the auction ends on July 1. Local items can be picked up at Sierra Telephone, 49150 Crane Valley Road, Oakhurst. Items from the consignment catalog will take longer to deliver.

"This is a great opportunity to get some nice merchandise and support the Boys and Girls Club," Burt said.

"Besides, you don't have to get dressed up and go out ... you can shop in your jammies."

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Online auction benefits the Harry H. Boys and Girls Club of Oakhurst

Bidding starts at midnight May 31, ends July 1.

www.supportbgclub.cmarket.com

Information: (559) 642-0313

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The Boys & Girls Club Online Auction is now open! The bidding has begun! Come check it out at www.supportbgclub.cmarket.com

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Since the Auction’s opening day on June 1st, we have received bids on 56 of our 105 items. The total dollar value of high bids amounts to $6,928. To date, the auction website is receiving an average of 150 visits per day and an astounding 250,000 hits to the site have been recorded since it went live in late April. We have received sponsorships totaling $15,425 including the very generous Platinum Sponsorship of $10,000 from the Pines Resort & Conference Center.

Please help us to keep this amazing momentum going by continuing to talk about the Auction with friends and business associates, forwarding the Auction Update emails, and of course, bidding on items! (And we are still accepting donations!)

www.SupportBGClub.cmarket.com

The Online Auction proceeds will not count as votes towards the Boys & Girls Club Honorary Mayor campaign candidate, Barney Berrier. However, if you would like to contribute to Barney's campaign, please visit www.Barneypalooza.com for a list of events and a downloadable contribution form.

[Kim]

I want to meet the person donating the jersey and the Miracle On Ice stuff and I want to buy his friendship. :)

[Mysteefied]

Oh Kim! I forgot to bring you your stuff!

[rimalicious]

I want to meet the person donating the jersey and the Miracle On Ice stuff and I want to buy his friendship. :)

You could go in on the Miracle on Ice thing with a bunch of people and have a party! :)

[Kim]

You could go in on the Miracle on Ice thing with a bunch of people and have a party! :)

Don't think I haven't been trying to figure out how!
I also forwarded the link to John Tull and Matt Thomas, just for kicks.

[rimalicious]

Don't think I haven't been trying to figure out how!
I also forwarded the link to John Tull and Matt Thomas, just for kicks.

Hah! I love it! Thank you!

[rimalicious]

The Harry H. Baker Boys & Girls Club Auction closes on July 1, 2007 at 3:00 AM, Eastern Daylight Time.

If you've got your heart set on a special item... you still have time to win!

Check Out These Great Buys...
You can still bid on any of the special items in our auction catalog right up to the final seconds of this exciting event. Every tick of the clock brings us closer to the finish line. This may be your last chance to win that special item or to grab a great bargain. So don't miss out... BID NOW!

www.supportbgclub.cmarket.com

[rimalicious]

http://www.sierrastar.com/features/story/13735992p-14317674c.html

Harry H. Baker Boys & Girls Club online auction
Bidding ends July 1
www.supportbgclub.cmarket.com
Information: (559) 642-0313

Rima Burt is telling everyone she knows and a lot of people she's just met that the Harry H. Baker Boys & Girls Club online auction (www.supportbgclub.cmarket.com) is making her a happy woman.

Burt, who works at Sierra Telephone, is on the club's board and is the mastermind behind the auction idea.

She was up at the Erna's Elderberry House estate Friday and stood on the steps of the Chateau du Sureau telling Erna's directrice Lucy Royse all about the auction and about the club.

She was sharing the news about how many people have gone online to check it out and what the top-10 items were.

As of Monday morning (Sierra Star production day for the Wednesday paper), here are some statistics:

Average visits per day, 189

Unique visits in June, 4,740

Web site hits since launch on June 1, 431,652.

Items in catalog, 117

75 of those items have bids

Current total sum of all high bids, $8,708

All those numbers are fairly impressive but, says Burt, she expects a sprint to the July 1 finish line.

"(The auction host) cMarket says that historically it does work that way," Burt said, "and I have spoken to many people in the community who have said they are waiting until the end to place their bids."

What they're bidding on -- or going to bid on -- ranges from pizzas to a stay at Erna's with dinner.

In between are enough items to keep the Internet busy.

Here are a few:

An autographed picture of John Travolta (item 145). The description states that it is "an authentic 8-by-10, black-and-white glossy photo of John Travolta, signed in silver. This is an original, authentic (not preprinted), signed picture."

A bird house with a heart-shaped entry (item 182). Description: "Cute birdhouse, large heart has opening for your new guests! Wire hanger attached."

Chateau du Sureau "Pampering Package (item 144). Description: "The winning bidder of this package will enjoy a one-night stay at Chateau du Sureau in a beautiful guest room, dinner for two and two gourmet picnics at Erna's Elderberry House."

Tickets to the new Harry Potter movie on opening night. Description: "Get four guaranteed seats and a bucket of popcorn at the first showing of "Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix" at The MET Cinema in Oakhurst on July 11. Seating for this premiere event is limited to 200."

A train ride and dinner. Description: "You are bidding on two adult passes for the Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Rail Road's Moonlight Special plus a $20 beverage allowance. The spectacular, fun-filled Moonlight Special operates Saturday nights in spring and fall, Saturday and Wednesday nights in summer.

The evening begins with a delicious New York Steak barbecue dinner and music by the Sugar Pine Singers. Then it's all aboard for the Logger Steam Train excursion through the woods as the conductor's narration recalls the past when loggers and Shay steam engines ruled the woods.

Hold on to your valuables! Masked horsemen have been known to stop trains in the area, searching for gold shipments or passengers' booty. Sing along with the trio around the campfire when the train makes a stop-over in the canyon. Hear the long, lonesome whistle blow on your return trip under the full moon as the locomotive chugs its way back to the station."

There are other items, from a kitchen faucet to a vacation Bible school soccer session, from exercise equipment to balloon and plane rides and from jewelry to cookies.

Each item on the Web site is accompanied by a photo and a description. Successful bidders will be notified immediately on close of the auction July 1 and can pick up many of the items at Sierra Telephone office on Crane Valley Road (or pay for postage). Arrangements will be made for those that aren't there.

The hosting site, cMarket, has other charity auctions. Sign on to www.cmarket.com/biddingforgood to check them out. You can search the site by cause, item, category, and distance from your location.



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The top ten auction items

Here are the online auction items with the most interest as of Monday morning.

1. Business card design and printing

2. Tenaya Lodge package

3. Moonlight Special for two

4. In-home wine tasting

5. $100 gift card to Crate & Barrel

6. $100 gift card to Pottery Barn

7. 1999 American eagle silver dollar

8. One cord of live oak firewood

9. $50 gift certificate for Three Sisters Cafe

10. Freezer meat, half a lamb

[BGW]

I couldn't resist...I just had to go and swoop in on those hockey tix at the last minute!!

[rimalicious]

Thank you to everyone who helped bring us past the $10,000 mark in the last minutes of the auction!!

[monkey]

And thank you Rima for all your hard work for the children of our community. I was high bidder on a massage! WooHoo!

[LU]

We got the Moonlight Special.. yay, have been talking about doing that for 17 years.

[Sandman]

"Cute birdhouse, large heart has opening for your new guests! Wire hanger attached."
Rima Burt is telling everyone she knows and a lot of people she's just met that the Harry H. Baker Boys & Girls Club online auction is making her a happy woman. via Sierra Star (http://www.sierrastar.com/features/story/13735992p-14317674c.html)