It’s WES Auction 2020: Pants Optional!

No need to dress up (or to get dressed at all)!No pushing and shoving to bid!

No hangover…

Auctioneer won’t throw food at you!

Visit the WES auction website for all the details!

Donate your items now via the online donation form!

Questions? Contact Sarah Morris at se.morris@verizon.net

---

For me, for the past few years, April showers bring thoughts of the WES auction and resuming  auction team meetings and then planning for a big event in the fall. This year was different. I couldn’t imagine asking a business to donate anything and I couldn’t imagine asking WES members to bid on anything since so many of the wonderful events that were donated to last year’s auction unavoidably had to be cancelled, leaving the winning bidders disappointed. I resigned myself to the reality that this would be the year without an auction. As the days got longer, however, things started to fall into place: When Tom Hutton shared some of the successes that other congregations were having with online auctions, the auction team started to brainstorm creative ideas for adjusting our event to new circumstances, and when the WES Comedy team rallied to plan entertainment, the deal was sealed: We would offer an online-only auction, with a live (online) kick-off and live (online) finale…Live from your couch…no pants required! Please visit https://charityauction.bid/WESauction2020 for the dates, details, and instructions.

Same as any year, the auction can only succeed with your donations, so please get creative about the items, services, or events you will offer. We are not encouraging donation of in-person events this year (unless they can be done at a distance), but you can contribute items for themed baskets, deliver some cookies, a meal, or a pie, make something awesome with your artistic skills, host an online movie night or game night, or ask your local businesses if they’d like to donate a gift card – we promise good publicity! It will take a lot of additional donations to make up for the lack of our usual, awesome dinners and other events, so please donate and plan to bid generously! The online form for submitting donation information is on the auction website.

I haven’t forgotten about the events that were cancelled last year. Many of the hosts have committed to rescheduling but some events simply can’t take place. I hope that the people who purchased spots at those events will take some consolation that their donations helped to support WES. If you have a concern about cancelled event(s), please contact me at se.morris@verizon.net.

I look forward to seeing you on Sunday, October 11 at 7:00 pm for the kick-off and on Saturday, October 17 at 7:00 pm for the finale!

-Sarah Morris

Note: The emailed version of this announcement included the wrong date for the auction finale. The correct date is Saturday, October 17.