Rotary auction marks 50 years

PENN YAN--The annual Rotary Radio Day Auction will celebrate decades of community fundraising as the event reaches its 50th anniversary milestone. Not only does it allow people listening at home to bid on several different items, but it is also a fun way for more than 300 community members to help raise money for a good cause.
The golden milestone for the Radio Auction is March 5 this year. Participating is simple. It all starts when local businesses donate more than 200 items that will be available during the auction. Bidders can compete for items like canoe rides, trips to Cancun, arts classes, wine events, theater tickets, a photo booth for a day, an airplane ride and a week's stay at Hilton Head. Rotary volunteers will then hold a live radio broadcast on WFLR from The Living Well, located at 121 East Elm St., where the items are then sold to the highest bidder. Potential buyers can listen to the broadcast either on the radio or by streaming it online. The money raised from the auction then goes to benefit the Penn Yan Rotary Club's projects and charities.
However, Radio Day did not begin as an auction. Rotary member Jeff Krans said when it started 50 years ago, the Rotary Club would sell ads and have members read them over the radio. One of the ads Krans fondly remembers was a tongue twister ad for "Flex Flow Fluid Fertilizer." Event Chair and Rotary Vice President Carol Worth added people would often stumble when they answered the phone and say "Rotary Radio Day," with both adding part of the fun of the event is screwing up on the air.
"[People] always had a good time," Evelyn Emerson said. "They looked forward to doing it. It was just a fun time to get together. They did clown around and make fun of each other. It is always fun to laugh at yourself."
Worth said the event has since grown significantly, adding she estimates the auction part of the event beginning in the early 1980s. She said two years into the event in 1967, Penn Yan Rotary raised $750 reading sponsor ads. During last year's event, the group raised more than $11,000.
One of the main focuses for the Rotary Club's fundraising efforts is Camp Onseyawa, a two-week summer camp in Ovid for children with disabilities. It is funded by the Rotary Clubs of Yates, Ontario, Seneca and Wayne Counties. Krans said the Penn Yan Rotary started holding this annual radio event 50 years ago primarily to help send kids to the camp for free. The event has since grown to include other projects as well. Worth said these include scholarships, literacy, feeding those in need and other community improvements.
Many individuals have been involved in helping to put on the Rotary Day throughout the decades. Worth commended Tom Hunt as being instrumental in running the auction well for 15 years before she took it over for the past five. Krans said Lloyd Emerson, Evelyn's husband, was also a fixture in Penn Yan for many years. Evelyn said her husband would spend hours at the computer putting the assignments together to make sure the event ran smoothly. Worth said they usually start three months in advance in order to get ready for the event, estimating there are likely more than 300 community members involved with it each year.
The Rotary members noted the gift cards tend to be some of the most popular items to auction off, with many of them selling for prices above face value. One of the unique items this year includes a small, wooden piece of the Brooklyn Bridge boardwalk.
For the new community project this year, Worth said Rotary hopes to start a program of creating, installing and maintaining a series of interpretive signage and benches along the Keuka Outlet Trail to help visitors appreciate the exciting history of the economy that thrived in the old outlet and along the old canal.
"If we can expand the auction income, the sooner we can help improve the value of the Outlet Trail, one of our important cultural assets," said Worth.
Items will be auctioned between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. Saturday, March 5. Listeners can stream WFLR live on the computer atwww.fingerlakesdailynews.com and listen along on the radio at 96.9 FM, 101.9 FM or 1570 AM. To donate, email ivesvine2@yahoo.com.
Bidders can see a complete list of the auction items in The Observer in the Wednesday, Feb. 24, issue. The item list will also be posted at the Community Bank on Main Street in Penn Yan. Worth said while the online bidding has not yet been established, people can keep an eye on the Penn Yan Rotary Facebook page for updates in the days leading up to the auction. She said bidders can call 315-760-4544 and leave a message prior to the event as well. The Living Well's phone number at 315-536-0838 will accept calls the day of the auction.