Mennonite Auction

Today was one of the days I wait for all year. It was the Mennonite Auction that is held every year on the first Saturday in May to raise funds for their school and mission efforts. It starts at 10:00am and goes until about 4:00pm. We got there about 9:15am so we could check out all the auction items. For lunch, you can buy a $7 barbecued chicken plate that has 1/2 a chicken, baked potato, cold slaw, bread, and a slice of cake. And of course, they always sell their wonderful fresh baked goods--breads, pie, cinnamon rolls, cake, and candy. It's a very fun day and there are some very serious bargains to be had. This year we found several!

This was early as we were all mulling around checking out the items

Note the cute little "puppy" I found in this dog house. This little girl was nibbling on a snack as she sat in here. I thought she was just adorable.

They even offer activities for the kids~games, etc....and a clown

There is always one incredibly large and beautiful handmade quilt. This quilt was kingsize and sold for $1050

At the beginning of the auction festivities the children and youth sang

Then a few more of the youth were added and they sang. Then came the opening prayer and then the auction began. I was interested in several things but most of them sold for way more than I was willing to pay (not everything sells at bargain prices) which is good for the school.

These Adirodack chairs are always very popular and they usually have quite a few--regular, rockers, gliders, etc. And here was our haul--these were the BARGAINS of the day. We also bought additional barbecued chicken for Stefanie and Danny and for us (Sunday dinner ~yum!). Of course we had to drop off the chicken and let them see our treasures. Yes, that is a wishing well that Ethan and Emily are in--that was the BIGGEST bargain, we couldn't buy the materials for what we paid--no one was bidding on it, except for Dave.

The solid cherry bookshelf is a great treasure and it is now sitting next to the fireplace in our living room. I love buying quality furniture for less than I would pay in furniture shops! Most of their furniture comes from Pennsylvania and Ohio and is made by the Amish.

Here's the swing

and the wishing well

A more global picture to give you a better idea of how it looks in the yard

And a quilt---my favorite bargain. It's mostly lavendar even though the pictures make it look more pink. It's not fancy like some of the others, but I loved the patterns and colors. We also got a hickory wood lazy susan for the kitchen table.

It was a great day ~ we got some incredible bargains and the school made some serious money (but not from us).

I can hardly wait for May 7, 2011!