Auction raises more than $4,000
Staff writer
“I’ve never seen this many people here,” Marion High School FFA adviser Mark Meyer said Thursday before the FFA Alumni Work Auction. “This is unreal.”
It couldn’t have come at a better time. Because state funding reductions have forced schools to trim their budgets, fundraisers have become more important than ever for groups like FFA, Meyer told the crowd.
The crowd of around 150 people bid on eight hours of work from 40 FFA members. The auction raised more than $4,000 for FFA activities, such as an annual leadership retreat and conventions.
The work auction is a tradition at MHS dating back 30 years or more, Meyer said. Patrons often have students paint, clear trees, or baby-sit, but there have been some instances of school staff going up for auction.
In his first year as superintendent, Lee Leiker put himself up for bids and ended up clearing trees for a local farmer for eight hours. The farmer got his money’s worth, Meyer said.
Another year, students convinced Meyer to enter the auction. Students pooled their money and won the bid for him. The students decided to have him wash their cars, but only two students showed up on the appointed day.
“The ones I’m going to buy for the co-op elevator will be painting,” Mike Thomas of Marion said before the auction. “They can’t hurt themselves with a paintbrush.”
In other National FFA Week events, Shaun Craft’s class won the Ag Olympics competition. Colten Johnson won the milk chug, Randy Carlson placed first in animal imitations, and Adam Cope won in steer roping.