ABC Sale brings in big bucks for CCA, SCCF
The Captiva Civic Association held their 43rd Annual ABC Dinner & Auction last Saturday with a sold-out crowd.
According to CCA executive director Paul Garvey, the event brought in approximately $17,500, about $2,000 of which will be going to the Sanibel-Captiva Conservation Foundation. The rest will be used to fund CCA programs.
The event began with a cocktail reception on the front lawn, followed by the most anticipated part of the evening, the ABC auction.
The auctioneer was Warren Schwab, well known for his zany auction antics including wardrobe changes and crazy hats.
A bi-plane ride, fire truck tour of the island, a birdhouse hand-crafted by Mark Wells in the image of The Bubble Room and four unique bookcases decorated by island artists were only some of the items up for grabs that night.
One of the auction’s more unique items was the Captiva rug, a piece that was designed and needlepointed by a group of Captiva women. The rug was raffled off in 1985 and was recently returned to the CCA by the family that won the rug all those years ago.
A table full of folks who bid on the Captiva rug won it and promptly handed it over to the Captiva Memorial Library for display.
The 2002 mint condition Yamaha scooter sold for $2,100 and the well-loved restaurant package containing coupons for local restaurants, two Bubble Room cakes, six lobsters and seven pounds of Dunkin Donuts coffee went for $1,400.
There were also some unexpected sales towards the end of the evening.
At one point, Schwab decided to auction off one of his wild hats and earned an extra $600 for it.
The high-spirited crowd also called for the auctioning off of the wall decorations, one pink and one green six-foot-tall styrofoam geckos, each selling for $400.
“It went really well, it was a really good party. The steel drum music during cocktails was delightful and Warren Schwab, as always, was just superbly entertaining,” said Sharon Brace, noting that her husband, Bob Brace, and Mark Wells were also quite the showmen as they acted out everything from airplanes to fire trucks, much to the crowd’s enjoyment, as the items came up for bidding.
“It was a good party and I think people had a good time,” Garvey said.
Garvey also said that there are still ABC t-shirts available for purchase. Anyone interested in buying a 2009 ABC Sale commemorative t-shirt can go to the CCA, located at 11550 Chapin Lane.