By Donna Thornton/News Editor
Celebrate the Roaring ‘20s with the Mary G. Hardin Center for Cultural Arts’ 20th annual auction on Aug. 23.
The auction will raise money to support the center’s many programs – the Imagination Place Children’s Museum, Etowah Youth Orchestras, Gadsden Community School for the Arts and other Hardin Center projects.
Tickets are $40 per person in advance and $50 per person at the door. Tickets include an open bar, generous cocktail supper, games, and a chance on this year’s door prize.
Center Deputy Director Tom Banks said the center again has partnered with Levy’s Jewelry of Birmingham to offer some beautiful pieces of estate jewelry for auction.
Banks said Levy’s consigns the pieces to the center and sets a reserve price – a minimum price that must be bid for the specific item.
Other items offered at auction – including a multicolor stone ring from McNair Jewelers – are strictly donations, and have no reserve price.
There’s much more than jewelry for sale, from furs to toys, to a golf cart and a grill. There is bound to be something that would interest almost any buyer.
Banks said some of the jewelry is among the higher value items that will be auctioned.
Tickets for the auction are available at the Hardin Center’s front desk or online at the center web site. The Hardin Center for Cultural Arts is a non-profit organization and the annual auction has become an important source of income. Since its inception, not only has the auction raised over $640,000 for the programs of the Hardin Center, but it has become one of the most elaborate events of the year. The auction is at 6 p.m., at the Hardin Center for Cultural Arts located at 501 Broad Street in downtown Gadsden. Invitations to the auction were sent to Hardin Center for Cultural Arts members, but anyone can come if they purchase a ticket.Typically, items valued at $500 or more will be put in the live auction.
All other items are usually placed in categories for the silent auction. In previous years, categories have included children’s items, art/antiques, sports/fitness, home improvement, trips, romance and entertainment.
For more information, contact Banks at (256) 543-2787, ext. 38.