by MATTHEW NASH

Sequim Gazette

A year’s supply of salsa, a new set of eyes via laser surgery and a furniture set are just a few of the items up for live and silent auction Saturday, Nov. 13, for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula.

Items are added daily to the already 200-plus items up for bid.

Fewer than 40 seats still are available for the 22nd auction.

Mary Budke, executive director, said the club is going back to its roots for the auction.

They’ve created videos of past and present members talking about the club and what it means to them. Some members will provide music during the program, too.

"This year represents a new transition for Sequim and the national program," Budke said.

"The new slogan is ‘Great lives start here,’ and we’re tying that into this auction, so people understand that’s why we’re here."

The auction goal is $170,000 this year.

In 2009, the goal was $180,000 and the auction grossed $156,000; in 2008 the goal was $205,000 and the gross was $184,000.

Budke said she understands not everyone can write large checks, but people can make a difference in other ways for the club.

One mainstay of the auction has been funding the Snack Attack, the clubs’ after-school snack program that costs about $60,000 a year.

Staff also is asking for help with memberships.

"We have a good amount of scholarships, 50-75 kids and parents who need help with scholarships," Budke said. "I think everyone in the (auction) room could do one membership for $30."

Custom-made

Involving more people is exactly what Westport Shipyard Interior Plant in Port Angeles did when donating to the auction.

Taylor Olson, vice president of engineering and a board member for the clubs, recruited designers and workers to make a custom table.

Crew members normally fabricate cabinets that stand upright and are attached to walls in yachts.

Instead they spent about 100 hours to create a table made of solid bubinga and wenge hardwoods with a glue-chipped textured glass top backed with 23-karat solid gold-leaf.

Gerard Green, plant manager, said it was the first piece of freestanding furniture most of the crew had made including Brad Elmer, a miller.

"It’s the hardest thing I’ve built to date," Elmer said.

He and others designed it from scratch and built a prototype to see how it’d look.

Green said projects like making the table challenge employees and make them better builders.

"We’re hoping this year is a record for what we’ve donated," Green said. "There’s a lot of talent poured into this table."

The table’s value is estimated at $4,000-5,000.

Other auction items include trips, Lasik eye surgery, dinner with local firefighters, a year of salsa, flooring, jewelry and more.

Tickets to the auction are $100.

Rainshadow Catering is providing a surf and turf or a vegetarian option of roasted chayote squash.

Three bottles of wine will be at each table, with two no-host bars available.

Current and former club members will provide musical entertainment during the evening that includes four silent auction sections and a live auction conducted by Stokes Auction Group.

The Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St., is closing Wednesday-Friday, Nov. 10-12, to prepare for the event.

To reserve a seat and/or donate to the auction, call Stacy Ceder at 683-8095.

Reach Matthew Nash at mnash@sequimgazette.com.