Live TV/internet auction to benefit Chardon Schools

Over the past two decades, the Chardon Schools Foundation’s annual live, televised auction has become a tradition to which many in and out of the community have contributed.

This year’s installment is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. March 10 and will be broadcast on G-TV channels 1020 and 1025, organizers report.

Foundation Treasurer and G-TV Manager Dave Jevnikar said, as in recent years, the bidding already has begun by way of the auction’s website, where bidders are tendering their offers in hopes of winning treasures from a wide variety of experiences, events and items.

“We’ve got over 225 items right now — everything from Cavs and Browns tickets, memorabilia, gift baskets ... oil changes and experiences,” Jevnikar said during a Feb. 27 phone interview. “One of our friends has even donated a processed lamb.”

Jevnikar said the auction

has become one of the Chardon Schools’ community’s favorite events since its inception around 2003.

“People enjoy it,” he said, adding that, being a live televised event, anything can happen during the roughly six hours it’s broadcast.

He said presenters over the years have included singers, dancers, cheerleaders, students, teachers and all kinds of other guests.

“It’s live and it’s goofy

and it’s fun,” Jevnikar said, citing some examples. “We have a collection of goofy hats people wear as they present ... and anything can happen, really. I remember someone calling in and insulting me one year. But, you know, it’s live TV and what happens, happens. There’s a line from way back when, something like, that people love a hanging.”

He said about 25 volunteers work to put the show together, including students from Auburn Career Center who help with producing the broadcast, others who help get the set together and even a retired firefighter who just happens to be a really good cook.

“In television, you always have to feed the crew,” he said, adding that the cook’s fare is always a highlight for the event’s volunteers and presenters.

He said the event has changed a bit over the

years, thanks to technology, for one thing. With the Internet’s wide reach and mass appeal, the auction can get started weeks ahead of time, thanks to the Charity Auctions Today site organizers set up.

The TV production also has changed venues at least once since it began.

“The first show was in the old Hilltopper Restaurant on Chardon Square,” Jevnikar said. “I remember people actually stood outside and looked in through the windows.”

Today’s show is broadcast from the Park Elementary School Auditorium.

No matter where it takes place, however, the Chardon Schools Foundation has always had the same mission in mind: to help fund purchases and experiences the Chardon School Board can’t otherwise afford to provide, Jevnikar said.

“The school foundation’s

approach has always been to fund either purchases or experiences that the board of education can’t fund. That’s our mission,” he said, explaining that the foundation often helps teachers who want to try a new type of educational technology or software obtain it. They’ll also provide dollars to help with field trips and other hands-on student scenarios the district can’t otherwise afford.

Jevnikar also lauded the schools’ parent-teacher organizations for their fundraising efforts and said together, they’ve been able to provide some worthwhile tools and experiences over the years for Chardon’s students.

As far as the March 10 auction goes, Jevnikar encouraged folks to tune in and do some bidding.

“We hope people tune in and look at the website, bid high and bid often,” he said.