The Ariss and Maryhill Lions Club are holding a Spring Clean-Up Charity Auction on June 16. While the club has hosted a variety of fundraising ventures in the past, this is a first.
“This is the very first one that we’ve done as a fundraiser for the club,” said Larry Wainwright, a member for more than 40 years. “We’re always trying to expand and find something different.”
The club is looking for any reusable items in reasonable condition. This does not include clothing or personal items. Anyone with items to donate can drop it off at Kurtz Auctions Inc. anytime after June 1. Their new location is at 5461 Elmira Rd.
A preview of these donated items will be shown June 15 1-4 p.m. or June 16 at 9 a.m.
Brian Kurtz is an experienced auctioneer who will be selling items at the event. He is also a member of the Lions Club.
“Although we don’t take personal items, we’ll take furniture, and anything really that’s sellable and reusable,” he said.
“We have a patio set, we’ve had a bicycle brought here, golf clubs, a complete car speaker system that does work,” added Wainwright. “We’re kind of hoping for 100 or more items. Even items like a couple of snowblowers and a couple of lawnmowers. That would certainly help. That’s what we do, we have a lot of fun dreaming up ideas that makes the meetings fun and interesting.”
There have been other creative fundraising events in the past.
“We also do a fish fry,” said Wainwright. “We try to do one of those at least once a year. We used to run fish fries quite often, and tied into the restaurant nearby. The restaurant was Ariss takeout. Bryan owned that. There used to be a fish fry every Friday night.”
We had a memorial golf tournament for the past seven years,” he added. “But as most projects or things do, they run their course. We’re in the process of revamping that. We used to do a family day. The very first family day we did an event in Martin.”
The Lions Club is a charity organization aimed towards raising guide dogs for various categories, such as canine vision, and giving them to those in need.
“Hopefully if people have something to donate they would let us know and help out,” said Wainwright. “We’d love to see as many people as possible. There will be a food booth there as well.”
Anyone wishing to donate can call Brian Kurtz at (519) 836-0342 or Bob Halliburton (519) 835-7328. Alternatively, e-mail brian@kurtzauctionsinc.com to arrange a time.
