Delayed Nooga Strong auction now online

The rain stopped before the performers took the stage for An Evening Under the Stars, a July 16 Nooga Strong concert at The Hideaway Rock Quarry in Soddy-Daisy.

The silent auction, unfortunately, did not fare as well, says promoter Betty Bryan, who shelved most of the merchandise, much of it framed oil paintings and prints, rather than have it damaged by the weather.

“We would wipe off a table to set things out, and literally half a minute later, it would be wet again,” Bryan says.

Like proceeds from the concert, funds raised in the auction were to go to the families of Chattanooga’s Fallen Five, the servicemen killed in the July 16, 2015, terror attack at the Naval Operational Support Center and Marine Corps Reserve Center on Amnicola Highway.

Bryan says some of the performers’ souvenirs were still auctioned from the stage, and headliner Ty Herndon and opener Tim Bentley passed the hat through the crowd for donations.

But Bryan is hoping to finally award the rest of the merchandise to the highest bidder so that she can complete her gift to the families.

To do so, she has put 25 remaining items online at https://m.facebook. com/ The- Hideaway- RockQuarry-1652784538266541. Bidders also can search The Hideaway Rock Quarry on Facebook to find the link. For those not on Facebook, she’ll accept phone calls at 423-8346507.

Items include a framed 30- by 40-inch oil painting of a Civil War scene by Wendell Cooley, multiple prints by Ben Hampton and a premiere edition of a book, “Monument to an Era: The Life and Art of Ben Hampton,” that author Patsy Hampton, the artist’s daughter, will personalize for the highest bidder.