What a Weekend!

We still don't have an antenna at the ranch, which means no internet or telephone. But I have figured out that I can send and receive texts... Strange! Anyway I am writing this in the car on our way to Moses Lake to see if we can find some lighter pipe for the antenna -- the 1 1/2 inch stuff we bought last week turned out to be way too heavy.

We had an absolutely incredible weekend! I spent Friday morning helping Diane and Dione prep food for Sunday lunch (lots of onion chopping for salads) and then putting together the roasters full of the ingredients for Green Bean Soup. Then I spent the afternoon helping Cleon tag the items for the auction on Saturday. When the stuff for the office came out of the trailers, I was able to find my boxes and start numbering auction cards. It was pretty amazing to see more and more cars and semis arrive and start unloading tarps and fences, tables and chairs getting set up for the booths and auction on Saturday. By that evening, we fed supper to 130+ people.

By seven AM the next morning, the crowds started lining up for the breakfast of sausages and pancakes while we handed out the cash packets Regan had prepared for each booth. Booth sales started at 9 AM and then the auction itself began at noon. People were in a generous mood. The loaf of bread that was auctioned off first (it would be used for communion on Sunday) went for a thousand dollars! Then it was resold several times for a grand total of $2150!

Here's one of the quilts being displayed as it was auctioned. Not this one, but another, a Lone Star quilt set the sale record of $5500.

Part of the crown watching the auction --

Some of the quilts in the big tent awaiting their turn to be sold --

There was absolutely no reason to go away hungry!

 One of the long lines in the afternoon. I think this line was for apple cider --

Or perhaps for Apple Butter. Both were being made while people watched.
 

Though it was very cold it the morning, it turned out to be a lovely day. People seemed to enjoy sitting in the sunshine, eating and just visiting.

No matter where you looked on the church grounds there were people checking out information about MCC (Mennonite Central Committee), checking out various booths, and visiting.

By the time the day was over and we had totaled up the proceeds, over $119,000.00 had been raised for world relief at the Mennonite Country Auction. We know that is only a preliminary number as all of the results are not yet in. For instance, we know that there was over $2000.00 in the Penny Power glass jug that had been raised by the children's collections of loose change (which had been matched by many members of the congregation) before the sale. The level in the jug was considerably higher by the end of the day. It won't be counted until later this week.

What a day! God is Great!

Green Bean Soup, Salsa and Maple Syrup...

Forry dropped me off at Diane's house (2.5 miles from Auntie Violet) a little after noon today and she, her sister-in-law Fran and I headed for Moses Lake. We dropped Fran off downtown to do some shopping and Diane and I tried to find the Health Department. Diane is in charge of all the food sales and meals at the Mennonite Country Auction and she had discovered that her food handler card expired yesterday (and mine expired sometime last winter). I was planning to spend the afternoon over at the church helping her and when she said she needed to take the test to get her card, I decided to go along and get mine too.

After doing some asking around we finally found the office (only the phone number is listed in the phone book) in time to review the latest food booklet before it was time to watch their videos and then take the test. It's a good thing we looked at the newer book. I had been quizzing Diane from her older book on the way to town, but they've changed a few things! For example, food must now be cooled to 41 degrees instead of 45 degrees like in the old book and food cannot be more than 2 inches deep in cooling pans instead of 4 inches... But we both aced the test, so one more thing out of the way.

When we got back to the church, Fran and I started putting maple syrup samples in 1 oz little cups with lids while Diane and Didi started putting together six roasters of ingredients for Green Bean Soup. Then Fran and I filled some larger cups with salsa for the taco salads. All of this stuff then goes into the cooler until Saturday.

Diane had invited Forry and I to her house for dinner after we finished at the church. Her brother Jim from Kansas (who is one of the auctioneers) and his wife Fran are staying with them, so we had a good visit with dinner. Diane had put craw fish etoufee' and rice in the oven before we left for Moses Lake, so we had quite a feast!