Fillmore is preparing for their 19th annual Christmas Auction tomorrow at the Fillmore Rec Centre. A day full of great items, amazing people, and delicious food. This year marks the 19th straight that Fillmore has held a Christmas auction, one that Logan Keller, Fillmore rec board member, states has looked different throughout the years, but the spirit has remained the same.
“I think it's been really good over the years. It started off, it was a Christmas tree auction. So, it was always just trees auctioned off and then it kind of grew over the years and now it's kind of a little bit of everything. It's pretty good received in the community and the surrounding communities. We get a few people out and we do suppers before to try to get a few more people through the door, but that's usually our biggest fundraiser for the year is our Christmas auction, where we bring in the most money to help our facility.”
Proceeds from this Christmas auction go towards the Fillmore Rec Board, to help cover the costs of operation for the Fillmore Recreation Centre. What started as a Christmas tree auction back in 2005, has now expanded into many different items some not even Christmas-themed to be auctioned off. Keller hopes that although the last few years have seen decreased numbers, with some of the items available that this year could be the best yet.
“This year, probably one of the bigger (items) is the little kids drive-on tractors from John Deere that South Country donated that to us, and then we've got some mini fridges and some clothes, homemade goods, jams and jellies and peanut brittle and all the good stuff, there’s usually quite a variety. We're hoping for around 50 people, it was a little lower the last couple years but hoping to turn that around.”
Fillmore Rec Centre is hoping for a great turnout to help raise funds to offset costs for upcoming projects at the centre. With the Christmas auction and a lasagna supper before, they’re hoping to raise a good amount of funds to cover these costs. Keller explains the repairs needed.
“We've got our kitchen renovation that's happening soon. So, our exhaust system for the grill wasn't up to code anymore so we had to fix that. It wasn't working very well either to move all the smoke out from the grill. So, we had to replace it and then put in a new make-up air unit. Everything with that, we figure close to $50,000 to get that project done.”
They’re currently looking for items to be auctioned off all the way up to the day of the auction on December 14th. People can donate items by either reaching out to a rec board member, dropping off items at Top Notch Farm Supply, or by contacting Logan Keller at 1-306-722-7715.
This article was originally posted on Dec. 2