submitted by Becky Fitzgerald

Oh. My. Goodness. Three storage units are bursting with furniture and household items, and the donations are continuing to pile up in preparation for the Meadowlark Hills Foundation’s 2^nd annual auction, which supports our Good Samaritan Fund. Mark your calendars for 9:30 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 10, when auctioneer Vern Gannon will open the bidding in the Utopia Room at St. Thomas More Catholic Church, 2900 Kimball Ave.

Thank you, residents, for answering the call for donations of furniture, household items and jewelry. Thank you, too, to several volunteers who collected, sorted and boxed the items. My request for jewelry, especially, was answered in a big way. We now have a large selection of costume pieces and some 14 carat gold and sterling silver items. Higher quality rings, necklaces and brooches will be appraised by a local jeweler before the auction so Gannon will be better able to describe them to bidders.

During a recent meeting with Meadowlark Hills board members, I mentioned that our storage units are packed and that I knew of at least two more trailers full of furniture that would need a temporary home prior to the auction. I jokingly asked if anyone had an empty garage he or she would let us use for a few weeks, and Board of Trustees chair Fred Borck came to our rescue! Fred owns the former Orscheln store building on McCall Road, so he’s allowing us to hold items there at no charge until next week. Thank you, Fred!    

If you’d like a preview of what’s for sale on auction day, come to the church between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m. and come hungry! We’ll be selling breakfast burritos, muffins, donuts and coffee at our auction café. Lunch items, such as pulled pork and barbecue beef sandwiches, also will be available, all at reasonable prices. Food items are being catered by Prairie Star Restaurant, and tables and chairs will be available for diners.

Not familiar with the Utopia Room? It’s on the northeast side of the St. Thomas More building. It may be accessed by either driveway off of Kimball Avenue, but the east drive is the most direct route. There is ample parking.

At the auction, I would like to display wreaths and artwork on room dividers. Over-the-door hooks for clothes or decorative hooks used for wreaths fit over the top of the dividers and are ideal for showing off these treasures. Does anyone have such a hook he or she would loan to us or donate to this good cause? If you’d like it returned, we’ll put your name on it.

If you have questions about the event, please contact Becky, Development Director, at 323-3843.