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NewslettersExchange Club of Beaufort's gala and auction is a great reason to get out your denim and pearls
mallwood@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5538
Ron Voegeli has been involved in the Exchange Club of Beaufort's Gala Party and Charity Auction for almost two decades, so he knows what to expect, but he found it hard to contain his excitement when he rattled off some of the items up for auction this year.
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"We've got similar things to what we've had in the past, (but) we've just got a lot of stuff," Voegeli said.
"We've got a 27-foot boat, a couple of vehicles, antiques, handmade sofa tables that have been hand painted by artists in town. We've got golf (packages) at different golf courses and country clubs. We've got a large, probably 4-foot-around coffee table, and we've got four or five really nice rocking chairs."
The event, Saturday at the Boys and Girls Club in Beaufort, will once again benefit the Child Abuse Prevention Association. It is the gala's 21st anniversary.
Other items that will be auctioned off include a handmade oyster table with wheels, regulation-size pool table, a brand-new foosball machine, a Stihl power blower and a new toilet with a matching pedestal sink from Ferguson Enterprises.
Also up for auction will be landscaping services and goods, as well as trips to Myrtle Beach, Harbor Island, Hilton Head Island, Key West, Fla., and a week-long stay at Fantasy Island resort in Daytona Beach, Fla., the week of Feb. 7-14.
"I get satisfaction from helping CAPA," said Voegeli. "We have to have a lot of private fundraising to keep us in business."
In addition, participants will be able to bid on tickets to the Carolina Panthers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers game Dec. 8 in Charlotte, as well as catered dinners and parties at Carolina Wings & Rib House and Steve Brown Catering.
This year's gala has been dubbed "Denim and Pearls," and Voegeli said guests can feel free to wear denim, pearls or both.
He said last year's Exchange Club auction raised $55,000.
"I want people to come, and I want them to bid high and bid often," said Voegeli. "It's really an event. It's not an auction, it's an event. People come once a year, and they see everybody they haven't seen in years."
Most of the antiques and furniture have been painted by local artists such as Cassandra Gillens, Becky Baldwin, Janet Brown, Nela Beyer, Libby Davis, Mary Segars and Roger Steele. There also will be a handcrafted hope chest painted by Barbara McArtor. The evening's auctioneers will be Voegeli, Rick Forschner and Deanna Bowdish.
"It takes a lot of people to put this on," said Voegeli. "We rely on the community who come and make donations of items so that we can auction them off. I don't do this by myself by any means. I want everybody in town to know that we count on all of them to help us with this."
Susan Cato, executive director of CAPA, said the ceremony is the group's largest fundraiser. She looks forward to the event every year.
"I enjoy the variety of really nice things," she said. "People are so generous -- just the camaraderie of it all. People come out because they want to support CAPA, and we have a good time. We really count on the money to support our programs."
Voegeli said even though there are several nice items for auction, the group had a tough time getting businesses to donate because of the economy.
"This year, the economy has really put the clamps on us," he said. "We've had probably 15 (businesses) that said they couldn't help this year. They want to help next year if the economy picks up, but we're going to have the auction one way or another. Whatever we get is more than what we had."
Voegeli began working with wood as a child growing up on a farm in Kansas. He constructed five chests for last year's auction and had them hand-painted.
"This year, I only made one, but I made six sofa tables that I had different artists paint," said Voegeli. "I've been doing (woodwork) all my life. I grew up watching my dad and granddad. I liked it and kept going."
Voegeli is different from other artists in town in that he only has one eye. He lost the eye due to head trauma in the Vietnam War. He is a retired Marine who loved Beaufort so much he decided to stay once he returned from Vietnam in 1971. Voegeli met his wife, Sandra, here, and the two have five children, all of whom are adopted.
"I'm the only one-eyed picture framer, woodworker and stained glass guy in town," said Voegeli. "It's a little different, but I've been this way for a long time. I've got no choice."
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