A “red carpet,” parked limousine and several posters advertising upcoming movies guided the way into the Veterans Memorial Building Saturday, where the lights, cameras and auction took place.
Some guests dressed up as characters from popular movies for the Porterville Chamber of Commerce’s annual auction with the theme, “A Night at the Movies.”
“It gets started and it gets crazy, and it’s fun crazy,” said Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Officer, Donnette Silva-Carter. “We have people who look forward to coming every year.”
“The costumes are fun,” said Renee Griswold, dressed as a female pirate. Her husband Daren, dressed as Jack Sparrow, was the announcer throughout the evening. “[The auction] is something fun to do, to get out and support the community,” she said.
Her friend Paige Smith, dressed as Wilma Flintstone, was attending for the first time after she and her husband received the Griswolds’ invitation.
“Fred is around here somewhere,” she said.
The Chamber Board Chair-elect, Veronica Garcia wore several hats. Dressed as Jesse the Cowgirl, from Toy story 2 and 3, she was a guest, donor and host. As the Manager of Galaxy 9, she was responsible for much of the design, which included large and medium sized posters of big-screen movies, and yellow, red and black decor on all 35 tables. each table had a tub overflowing with movie theatre popcorn and a cut-out of a movie projector, intertwined with film strips as a centerpiece, as well as glass bottles of Coca Cola and chocolate candy bars.
Garcia also donated several Galaxy items, including a VIP Season Pass for two. she attended with her husband, Jorje, dressed as the Woody doll, and her son, Isaiah, 8, dressed as Clone Trooper from Star Wars.
“It’s his first time here, so he sees a lot of things he likes. There’s a lot of kid items, like DJ Hero and Wii games,” Garcia said.
The night included a hamburger dinner, by Randy’s Restaurant, with wine catered by the Leadership Porterville Class of 2010. other features were a silent auction, live auction and mystery box auction. Porterville High’s Partnership Academy of Business also helped out, getting both community service hours and exposure to the local business community.
As the guests walked in and received their bidding numbers, many of them began browsing immediately, from among tables full of more than 300 silent auction items. Many of the contributed items were certificates for services, gift baskets and other sets of items that go well together, such as beach toys or a garden hose with other gardening items.
The live auction included many of the regular items, such as a golfing trip to San Fransisco, week’s stay in an oceanfront condo, a business marketing package, progressive dinner for six and party at Nuckol’s Ranch. There were also a few new items, though, such as a flight for four people to Harris Ranch Restaurant, a balloon ride above Napa Valley and four grandstand tickets and a hotel stay at the NASCAR Pepsi Max 400 Sprint Cup Series race in Fontana.
There was a closing off count-down for each silent auction section. when it started, people scrambled to find their desired items, and some would bid on top of each one another, competitively, until the count-down reached “one.”
The chamber had personalized portraits made for the donors of the silent auction items, and placed them next to their respective contributed items for advertising. they also assembled several “Shop Local” gift baskets, filled with goods from various businesses around town.
“This is what it’s all about,” Silva-Carter said.
The Annual Auction has a twofold purpose, she noted.
“We not only bill it as a revenue generating thing, but we also promote businesses. We encourage people to come for business networking. There is a lot of synergy here.
“We are trying to present everybody in a nice light, because it does good for their businesses,” she said, gesturing toward a business portrait.
She and the chairperson of the auction, Chamber Board Chair Kaye McGuire — who was dressed as Elizabeth Taylor — both agreed this year’s level of donations and support from businesses was high.
“We really have a lot of sponsors that go overboard and beyond to help with the event,” Silva-Carter said. “And we really appreciate the support, because times are challenging and we know they are investing in the work of the chamber to help improve the business environment. It’s humbling to me to see the businesses feel so confident in their chamber that they are willing to donate at this level.”
Sabrina Ziegler is a freelance reporter. Send e-mail in care of recorder@portervillerecorder.com.
Red carpet out for guests at Chamber's auction night
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