Westfield Kiwanis Club President-Elect Bill Parks, left, and club President Janet Cassanelli look over some of the merchandise that will be sold in the club’s 44th annual TV Auction. Local businesses and non-profits have donated more than $50,000 worth of items to be auctioned. The auction airs Sunday, March 3 on Comcast Channel 15 in Westfield and Southwick and will also be streamed live on the Internet. (Photo submitted)
WESTFIELD – Vacation trips to Aruba and Hilton Head, a Vermont ski package, Red Sox vs. Yankees tickets and luxury box tickets to a Justin Bieber concert are among the hundreds of items that will be sold in the Westfield Kiwanis Club’s 44th annual TV auction on Sunday.
Kiwanis Club President Janet Cassanelli said Greater Westfield businesses and nonprofits have contributed merchandise and services valued at more than $50,000, which will be auctioned to the highest bidders, all for the benefit of children in Greater Westfield.
Cassanelli said the annual auction will air from the Westfield State University television studios from noon to 8 p.m. Sunday. The program will be carried live in Westfield and Southwick on Comcast’s community access channel 15, and will be available elsewhere streamed live on the Internet at http://www.westfield.ma.edu/Kiwanis
The auction features a “Super Block” of high-value items, including Red Sox tickets, tickets to a Boston Celtics game with seating in the exclusive “Heineken Boardroom,” a seven-day trip to Aruba, a couples membership to Shaker Farms Country Club, and a “Treasure Chest” filled with merchandise and gift cards, including Red Sox tickets, worth more than $1,000, Cassanelli said/
The auction also features two “big blocks” with items of only slightly lesser value, including tickets for a Red Sox-Yankees game, Boston Bruins luxury seat tickets, a $250 jewelry gift certificate and more.
The annual Kiwanis auction began on local AM radio in Westfield in 1969. It moved to a televised format more than 20 years ago, when the Westfield cable community access channel became available. Students and faculty from Westfield State University’s communications department provide technical and studio support.
Many of the Kiwanis Club’s 82 members and a host of volunteers will work in the studio and answer phones on auction day. Bids are recorded in a computer database designed and built for the Kiwanis Club by students from the Westfield State computer science department as a class project. The computer system allows recording of bids in real time, eliminating the potential for errors that existed in the paper forms-based system formerly used by the club.
Guest auctioneers are expected to include Mayor Daniel Knapik, state Sen. Michael Knapik, state Rep. Don Humason and representatives of many of the community service agencies which benefit from the funds raised.
On Tuesday, volunteers will also staff the club’s redemption center at the St. Joseph’s National Catholic Church hall, where bidders will pay and pick up their winnings from 5 to 8 p.m.
Cash, personal checks and major credit cards can be accepted in payment.
The auction supports many community projects and organizations, including the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Westfield, which founded in 1969 by the Westfield Kiwanis Club; Westfield’s Little League baseball and softball program, also founded by Westfield Kiwanis; and youth hockey and soccer programs. The Westfield Chapter of the Red Cross, the Westfield Athenaeum Boys and Girls Library, and Kiwanis “Good Citizen” awards to high school students in Westfield and Southwick also benefit from the auction.
Potential bidders can apply in advance for an auction speed bid number by emailing [email protected]. Include the bidder’s full name, address and telephone number.
