Great Brandon Auction Memories
This year's auction will be held July 22, 2008
Rain or Shine under the Big Tent, Central Park, Brandon VT 05733

“This July, the Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce will be celebrating its 20th Annual Great Brandon Auction. I remember the auction beginning the year after I moved to Brandon. Warren Kimble, the creative energy behind the auction, stated that an auction would be a great fundraiser and a fun event to sponsor. Jim Jasmin, the Chamber’s first Executive Director, got to work. They scheduled a date, ordered T-shirts and posters, solicited for donations, found storage and recruited auctioneers. Tom Whittaker was a well-known area cattle auctioneer. Barb Watters was a newcomer to town but was also a trained auctioneer.

Saturday morning, July 8, 1989 – the sun was shining and the crowd was cheery. Tom and Barb split the show and everyone went home with some kind of a bargain. The Chamber grossed almost $5,000. A new Brandon tradition was born. Over the years, I’d like to think the Auction has improved while retaining much of what makes it special. It is still a terrific family-friendly event which relies on the community for donations, sales, and the workforce. Tom and Barb took turns at the podium for many years and we still miss Tom. Barb and her gavel have presided over every auction – 20 years! Here are some memories from some long-time auction volunteers.”
Janet Mondlak, Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce Executive Director

“I think my favorite part of the Auction is just seeing the crowd and knowing the number of people who put the auction on their 'must do' list for summer, especially the out of state visitors. People who go out of their way to come up and say, ‘Hi, it's great to see you and we're glad to
be here.’ And those awesome pastries/treats brought to us from a stop along the way. (I can never remember her name or where she gets the goodies). And of course ... one memory that didn't happen at the auction itself, but when I suggested moving from Saturday to Tuesday ... and many
Chamber members just looked at me like I had three heads and had finally totally lost all my senses!”
Barb Watters, Auctioneer

“My favorite memory is when a fellow came up to the desk and said he had been there for a long time and they hadn't called his number yet. I still get a chuckle out of that.”
Cindy Thomas, Auction Volunteer

“I distinctly remember the first auction, including the time and work in prequalifying the items that were going to be sold; the anticipation of what would happen and the joy of success when it was over. In planning the next year the Chamber Board seriously debated whether or not there should be a second auction as it seemed impossible to duplicate the first. Discussions were held on how it would be possible to have items donated as it seemed we had already collected all of the ‘good’ stuff for the first auction. After lengthy debate the Board elected to move forward with a second, and possibly, last auction which turned out more successful than the first. Twenty years later we are still at it and amazingly some of the ‘good’ stuff still shows up.  An event like this goes well beyond the parameters of the Chamber and entails the goodwill and participation of the Brandon community.
Paul Gladding, Auction Volunteer

“One of my favorite moments was the year of the Bucket Brigade. A downpour in the early afternoon forced all the kids helping out to scoop the flooding water out of the street and park in some donated maple sugaring buckets (thank god for them!). Of course, the rain cleared up later on and it all worked out.”
Ariel Mondlak, Auction Volunteer

“One of my favorite moments was probably when Charles, Paul and I had the exercise equipment set up on the platform. A Nordic-trak skier and two stationary bikes. We climbed on and were racing in place... Hmmmmm, maybe it was when I was wearing the sheepskin car seat cover as a loincloth. Or the time Paul and I made out on the couch while Charles sat next to us and was jealous. The heaviest piece we moved had to be the fire hydrant....I'm still wearing a truss. BOX LOTS---I see them in my dreams for weeks afterwards. And KISS THE BABY! Rite of passage.”
Bernie Carr, Auction Co-Manager

“I remember the Chamber Board meeting at Rowe's when we agonized about an annual fund raiser. Every publication and every event had to pay for itself in those years, so we were continually going to our members for ‘another donation,’ since our dues were only covering the basics of keeping the Chamber functioning. After hassling over several suggestions Warren Kimble said, ‘If you want a fund raiser that really works you need to hold an auction, but don't accept any junk. I'll show you how to do it, but I won't do it for you.’ That got us started. Tom Whittaker did us a big favor by being our first auctioneer, and an even bigger favor by bringing in Barb Watters. They both had a knack for making it a fun event. Once local people saw that the town was benefitting from things the Chamber was doing it gained support. It was really neat to see people who had donated items come and bid on items others had donated. After the first auction we had some serious doubts about whether we could bring in enough donations to sustain an auction every year. We decided we had to try. Thank goodness we did!”
Jim Jasmin, Former Executive Director, Brandon Area Chamber of Commerce