Mennonite Country Auction Saturday

Cool mornings, shorter days, and leaves beginning to turn are all signs that it is time for the Mennonite Country Auction & Relief Sale. Always held the first Saturday of October, the Mennonite Country Auction is holding its 38th annual auction in rural Ritzville on October 3, 2015.

Since 1978, when the sale was first started, over $2.5 million dollars has been raised for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) and their projects of peace, relief and development around the world (www.mcc.org).

Preparation of the sale grounds begins on the Sunday before the sale with setup of the big tent which will house some of the booths. Preparation of the grounds continues Friday, when the booths, awnings, stage, tables and chairs go into place. Friday evening, a meal is provided (contributions for the meal go to the sale) for those who helped during the day.

Saturday, events start with breakfast from 7 to 9 a.m., with the booths opening at 10 a.m. Booths this year include Ten Thousand Villages, the Country Store (baked goods, garden produce and miscellaneous hardware items), Quilters Corner Plus, and new this year is The Recycled Spoon (custom made silver-plate and sterling spoon and fork jewelry and more). “My Coins Count” will replace Penny Power this year and will accept all coins and be put towards disaster projects. There will also be a bounce house for the kids.

Foods will include freshly made New Year’s Cookies, ice cream, pies, fresh-pressed apple cider, apple butter made in a copper kettle, Amish cheeses from Ohio, bulk sausage, ham and bacon from Montana, hamburgers, sausage sandwiches, BBQ rib plate, salad, and green bean soup. Back again this year will be Kraut Runzas!

At 12 noon, the auction starts with the traditional auctioning of the “loaf of bread” that will be used for the following day’s worship service communion. Some of the auction items include handcrafted quilts, afghans, handcrafted items, collectibles, a vintage roll-top desk and a cabinet sewing machine. A salmon fishing charter at Shilshole Bay will be on the auction block, which is a six-hour trip for six people. There will be tickets to a Seahawk game and to a Cougar game. These are just a few of the items that will be at the auction. Did I mention quilts? Some of the quilts come from the MCC Quilt Room in Ephrata, Penn., others from Canada and from local quilters, as well as quilters from other states.

After the sale is over, many help with the teardown of the booths, and cleanup of the grounds. Sunday there will be a special worship service in the tent (weather permitting) with a guest speaker, Les Gustafson-Zook who is the North American Relief Sale coordinator. After the service, the tent comes down and everything is packed away for next year’s Mennonite Country Auction & Relief Sale.

For latest information and pictures of some of the auction items and quilts and directions, go to MCA’s website at http://www.mennomennonite.org/650-2/ or call the Menno Church at 509-659-0926 or 509-347-6847 or email the church at mennopastor@scml.us

Payment can be made by cash or check with proper identification the day of the sale. Credit cards will be accepted this year for the Auction only. Dollar amounts paid for items above the fair market value of the items are tax deductible.