Annual Carhartts and Caviar Welding Showcase and Auction continues to impress

In front of a sold out crowd, Great Plains College was thrilled to raise approximately $34,000 at the eighth Annual Carhartts & Caviar Welding Showcase and Auction presented by S3 Enterprises.

From indoor and outdoor furniture pieces to custom metal art, the college’s welding students, their instructor, alumni and local businesses came together to create 14 unique pieces that were auctioned and raffled off to raise money for the welding program and scholarships.

“This event has become an important part of our welding program. It gives students a chance to practice their skills by creating some custom pieces and to showcase their work to friends, family and potential employers,” said Jared McKenzie, welding instructor at Great Plains College. “We are very proud that four of the program’s alumni chose to create items for the event this year, which is a great testament to the program and the Carhartts event when former students want to pay it back.”

This year’s pieces included a farm life-themed fire pit, barrel/oil drum patio furniture, coat rack and bench, robot lamps, rustic picnic table, home accent table, retro wall art, office computer desk, outdoor patio chair, rustic artwork, fire table and a live edge dining table. In addition, two items (night stands and a mosaic coffee table) were designed and built by the students as part of an in-class competition.

The live auction of the unique items resulted in a total of $19,750 being raised during the evening. A beautiful live edge dining table designed and built by One Prairie Craftsman and Jared McKenzie received the highest bid of the evening, raising $3,000 for the event. The College’s Swift Current Student Association purchased a set of beautiful patio furniture made from barrels and oil drums as a legacy piece. Built by Diamond Energy, the assistance provided by the Swift Current Comprehensive High School’s Work Experience Program students as a contributor to the patio furniture was recognized.

“We can’t run an event like this for eight years without tremendous support from our sponsors and the community,” added Dianne Sletten, donor services coordinator at Great Plains College. “We can’t thank everyone enough for continuing to support this event and our welding program year-after-year.”

Great Plains College would like to again thank all of the sponsors that made Carhartts and Caviar possible, including S3 Enterprises who served as the Title Sponsor. The college would also like to give a special thanks to the many raffle sponsors and other supporters of the evening.

Welding student Josh Hughes indicates a bid from an audience member during the live auction. Welding students and their instructor, alumni and local businesses created 13 unique metal art pieces for the live auction by auctioneer Gordie Cameron. The live auction raised $19,650 and the highest bid of $3,000 was on a large custom built dining table with a tabletop made from a single slab of live red oak. FROM LEFT: osh Hughes, Justin Bos, Colt Cornelson, Reid Henderson, Josh Keller, Talon Achter, Riley Hughes, Edward Mellen, Lars Dokken, Aidan Wengel, Mackenzie Lychak, and Jared McKenzie (instructor).

Photos by Matthew Liebenberg Some of the large live auction items that were created for the welding showcase on display at the event. At front is the highest priced auction item, a dining table that fetched a price of $3,000. Behind it is a rustic picnic table (auctioned for $1,200) and a barbecue fire table (auctioned for $2,200).