Hot Auction brings Cool Cash
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson/Valley Journal Auctioners sell off colorful quilts created by Amish communities all over the country.
Karen Peterson
Flowers are auctioned off along with signs and furniture.
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Robert Miller churns homemade ice cream.
Karen Peterson
Caleb Troyer enthusiastically catches a bid during the 15th annual Amish Community Auction.
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
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ST. IGNATIUS – A heat wave didn’t stop hundreds of people from traveling across the country on Saturday to attend the 15th Annual Amish Community Auction at the Amish school grounds on Foothill Road.
Cars packed the field next to the schoolhouse and along the ditch on Foothill Road. License plates on the cars were from Washington, Idaho, California, Texas and even Hawaii.
Brenda Beachy helped organize the quilt portion of the auction and she said event coordinators were prepared for the heat. They brought in a portable cooling unit which was set up under the larger of two tents where the quilts were auctioned along with several fans. Usually, just one tent is set up.
Outside the tents, the pop-pop sound of a one-cylinder hit-and-miss engine from the 1900s could be heard. It was providing power to churn out homemade ice cream, which was a popular treat as the air started warming up in the morning hours to later reach temperatures in the high 90s.
“We sell a lot more ice cream when it’s hot out,” Robert Miller said. He figures that he sold more ice cream this year than the last two years combined due to the heat.
Hundreds of items were auctioned off during the day including quilts, flower baskets, log furniture, tools, cabins, hay bales, and more.
Brenda Beachy said 150 quilts were ready for the auction block with several new patterns including Mountain Trails, Seven Sisters, and Wandering Bear Paw. The quilts come from Amish communities all over the country.
Sarah Kauffman helped fold each quilt and put them into protective plastic bags after they went through the auction. She said it takes a lot of time to make a quilt. One of the local quilts in the auction was made by women at the Amish Community Church.
