NEWS PHOTO MO CRANKER
Auctioneer Darren Lutz calls out the bidding for a teddy bear Thursday night at Dayz Off Pub. Lutz has called all 29 Santa Claus Fund Auctions.
mcranker@medicinehatnews.com@MHNmocranker
The Hat community got together Thursday night at DayzOff Pub to support the 29th annual Santa Claus Fund auction – Darren Lutz has been a part of every single one.
The auctioneer walked up to his podium around 7 p.m. and spent the next few hours calling the auction – in turn, he helped raise about $46,000 for the SCF.
“This is a special night for Medicine Hat,” he said before calling out his first item. “The minute you walk in here, you can see the atmosphere – you can feel the community here tonight.
“Everyone comes out for one night and puts all of their problems behind them – we have a ball and raise money for a great cause.”
Lutz says he sees a lot of the same faces every year in the crowd, ready to donate hundreds, if not thousands of dollars to the SCF. He says it is a fun tradition for many.
“This is all for the kids in our community,” he said. “It’s great seeing the people you know every year and seeing new faces is always nice.”
The auction is known for having a large variety of items – all of which fetch big numbers for the charity.
The Star Guitar is one of the big-ticket items from the auction, with it being signed by performers from the Esplanade. Giant teddy bears get sold for thousands over the course of the night and a Justin Trudeau toilet seat made an appearance for the first time as something to be bid on.
“Seeing these items go for the numbers they do shows you that people are in this for the right reason,” he said. “We were all kids at one point and we all know that kids should all be people on Christmas morning.”
The SCF has served 589 families this Holiday season – equalling 1,220 kids. The group has distributed $58,775 in food vouchers so far.
“It has been a really busy year for us,” said executive director Deanna Doerksen. “Today was our last official day of intake – it’s 222 extra children compared to last year.
“We’re hoping tonight is a successful auction so we can keep helping families celebrate Christmas.”
The event has bounced around over the past few years and auction co-ordinator Lorraine Schmaltz says she is hoping it can stick at DayzOff Pub.
“We’re very excited about the new venue,” she said. “The owners here are excited to be a part of this auction and we’re excited to be here.
“We have some really great stuff this year and we’re hoping to bring Christmas to a lot of kids this year.”
It’s great to hear that so much money was raised for the Santa Claus Fund. The organization does a lot of good for a lot of community members, especially precarious ones and low-income families.
It’s great to hear that so much money was raised for the Santa Claus Fund. The organization does a lot of good for a lot of community members, especially precarious ones and low-income families.