Lost and Found Auction

Tonight we attended a function at Windy Gap that we look forward to all year long:

The Lost and Found Auction.

It is traditionally held the night before Work Week starts and it is Windy Gap's way of clearing out the crap that has been stored at camp for an entire year. Everything that somebody left at camp that is deemed to have some value-even if it is only 25 cents is held on to for the auction. It starts at 5pm with the "yard sale" portion of the evening where items that are typically of low value are sorted on tables and everything is priced at 25 cents to a dollar. A few examples of tables are; jeans, t-shirts (according to sizes), books, shoes etc.

edit: I forgot to mention the whole purpose of the night is to raise money to send kids to camp. All of the proceeds are donated to Young Life of Asheville's campership fund. AMAZING!

Then we eat. It is pretty much the only covered dish event that we attend all year long and I love it! There is ALWAYS Kathie Odom's Corn Salad, Macaroni and Cheese, Eva Evans spoon bread-oh too much goodness to even talk about.

After eating, we bgin the auction. The best "lost" items of the year are collected on stage and the crowd (Windy Gap staff and dignitaries-such as us) dukes it out over items that might (or might not) actually be of some value. Over the years, I have fallen prey to the "mystery boxes" which is exactly what it says, a mystery. And they usually suck. So I was determined to not do that again this year.

There were a pair of size 8 Nike Shox running shoes that fit me perfectly. I had tried them on earlier this year at a local running store, but decided I didn't want to spend $125 on running shoes. I was so excited and determined that I was going to win them-but I didn't want to spend more that $50 on them. They came up to auction as the 2nd item of the night. Virginia Evans and I got into a bidding battle, but I won them for only $40. They were brand spanking new! I can't believe that someone left those shoes behind at Windy Gap and never even called to see if they were found! Their loss is my gain!

Also, one of the maintenance guys donated six handmade cutting boards that were absolutely beautiful. I really wanted one and managed to win the last one available and I couldn't be happier!

We also got Asher a Land's End fleece jacket for next year and a bubble mower. I also found a "Whoozit" toy that I swear was already ours and we lost it at Windy Gap. So we bought it back for 25 cents.

Here are a few pics from the night:

Obviously, Hadley Troyer won a rocket launcher at the auction. She was off to destroy some buildings.

edit: Another great feature of the auction is getting to see long lost friends! People who are specially invited and who attended this year included the Moldrups, John and Anna Gayle and family, Bo Odom and I can't remember who else right now. But it was so good for my heart to see sweet Anna Gayle and the Moldrups. It was like a breathe of fresh air!

And this was just a cute picture of Lucy from today, I couldn't resist.