Small Talk

Would you like to help make a difference in the lives of the children of Calhoun County? Anniston Noon Rotary Club, on behalf of United Way of East Alabama, will host Bids for Kids — a live and silent auction fundraising event on Saturday evening, Nov. 22, at Anniston City Meeting Center. Classic on Noble will serve an elegant Beef Wellington dinner and select wines, and entertainment will be in no short supply.

Anniston Noon Rotary members who competed in Dancing with Our Stars will once again don their dancing shoes for an encore performance — most notably, Anniston school superintendent Joan Frazier and dance partner Raphael Graves, who have been invited to perform their award-winning routine.

If you want to cut your own rug, don't worry — the fabulous Jacksonville State University Jazz Ensemble will provide music for dancing at the end of the evening's events.

Gibson Coleman, Alice Martin and their volunteers will be transforming the Anniston City Meeting Center into an elegant venue for the evening. Sheila Gilbert, Barbara Childs and other volunteers are preparing an auction catalog to be mailed to participants prior to the event, while Derek Brown and Cheryl Bragg will be preparing and mailing invitations.

Rotarians have been very generous in donating and securing items for the auctions. Cheryl Reid and her committee will be making a huge array of both live and silent auction items available, ranging from a week at the beach or mountains in luxurious condominiums donated by Bill Acker, Scott Andrews and Arthur Young, a weekend at the Hilton in New York, lunch and time with wildlife artist Larry K. Martin, a private tour of historic Anniston homes on Woodstock Avenue (Carla Thomas) antique furniture (Calvin Wooten, Arthur Toole), tickets to upcoming holiday events, handmade jewelry, and a wide variety of professional services.

Also included are packages for golfing, Braves baseball, JSU Football VIP seating, Space Camp, and behind-the-scenes tours of Anniston's museums. Perhaps the most popular item in the live auction will be the pair of tickets to the final rounds of the 2009 Masters Golf Tournament, complete with travel and lodging.

Other Rotarians who have secured items for the auctions are Ted Hooks, Cheryl Bragg, Bill Meehan, Bryan Read, George Attwood, Jerry Adkins, Koven Brown, Tom Beam, Bill Kreh, Ike Brown, Richard Thompson, Dawn Wilczek, Cheryl Reid, Jerry Leake, David Clark, Jim Miller, Anne and George Carruth, Roy Flannagan, Gary Schoenberg, Scott Mims, Jan Hurd, Mike McCord, Tom Nelson and many others.

Rotary President Arthur Young notes that proceeds will be distributed to agencies that work daily to benefit children in the areas of literacy (United Way's Imagination Library), hunger (All Saints Center of Concern and Community Enabler), autism (East Central Alabama United Cerebral Palsy), and health (Rotary Foundation's Polio Plus campaign).

The contribution to the Polio Plus campaign will help Rotary International match a $100 million challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The resulting $200 million will directly support immunization campaigns in developing countries, where polio continues to infect and paralyze children, robbing them of their futures. Rotarians believe that as long as polio threatens even one child anywhere in the world, children everywhere remain at risk.

Tickets are $50 per person, and may be obtained by contacting Rotarian Derek Brown at 256-241-6112 or Derek@widenetconsulting.com