Christmas in September helps County Home Auction succeed
The annual Holmes County Home Auction raises funds that allow the County Home to continue to provide its residents and their families with the best possible quality of living.
In a certain sense, the annual Holmes County Home Auction is a lot like Christmas when it comes to the auction committee going out and raising the items that are eventually sold at the auction block.
Each year countless area businesses and individuals donate items to the auction. Much like opening a Christmas package on Christmas morning, the Holmes County Home Auxiliary committee members know they are going to receive something special from all of the donors. They just don’t know what that might be.
“We are blessed to have so much support, and to us it is often like Christmas because businesses will tell us to stop in and get something and we don’t know exactly what we are getting,” said Aden Hershberger, who coordinates the auction each year and has for two decades.
What they get is an outpouring of donations that raise funds to aid the County Home. Holmes County Home executive director Deb Miller said between the effort of the auction committee and the community support, it goes a long way in showing exactly how much the County Home means to the area.
“I continue to be amazed at how blessed we are,” Miller said. “We are blessed to be part of a community where they believe in its mission of the home and what we are doing, and they see the relevance of us continuing to be there. We don’t receive state or federal funding, so the monies from this auction are critical.”
On Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Holmes County Home Auction, the committee will unveil all of the donations it has received and present the 48th annual auction, which will provide funds for the County Home to serve its residents and their families.
The fun will begin on Friday, Sept. 20 with a fish fry and volleyball tournament. In addition there will be the popular kettle stew.
Hershberger said 34 women’s teams and 14 men’s teams will invade the home’s grounds and fill up the 24 outdoor volleyball courts. The teams will play into the early morning hours of Saturday.
“It is so important to keep the young generation involved and ready to step in and take over,” Hershberger said. “They are going to be the future of this event, and this is one way we can keep them plugged in, and our youth continue to really support us in a great way.”
The next morning patrons will be greeted by a full-course breakfast at 7 a.m. A bake sale and silent auction will begin at 8 a.m., followed by the main auction at 8:30 a.m. A full lunch including barbecued chicken, pulled pork, noodles, baked beans, hot dogs, potato salad, fruit pie, homemade ice cream, kettle corn and more will be available at 10 a.m. All of the food on both days is on a donation basis.
Throughout the day Miller and others will give tours around the County Home for those who would like to see the newest updates and where the funds are used. Tours are generally run every half-hour throughout the day.
This past year Miller said they have made creating an updated and improved call-light system for the residents and staff a priority. That included the installation of a Wonder Guard system, a wireless system that replaced an obsolete system.
“The new system allows the aides to communicate directly and allows the nurses to have communication capability with nurse’s aides anywhere in the facility,” Miller said.
It also provides greater safety for residents on the home’s outdoor walking path.
“Residents now have pendants where if they go out to use the walking path, they can take those pendants, and if they need help, they can push that pendant and get immediate assistance,” Miller said. “It has really opened up the possibility for residents to get outside and enjoy things and still be safe.”
Miller said the past year also has seen them update the air-conditioning system and purchase everyday items for residents who don’t have the financial capability of providing for themselves. Most importantly the updates and the purchases allow the staff to continue to care for the residents as they build relationships and make for a higher quality of life.
“We have wonderful staff members, many who have been there for a long time, and they become family to the residents,” Miller said. “When people bring their loved ones to live here, they are about to inherit 40-plus extra family members, and that is comforting to families.”
The County Home does offer adult day care and respite services that allow caretakers a chance to catch a breather or to run errands, whether it is for a few hours or for a weekend.
This year’s auction funds will help create an addition to the home that will further benefit those two objectives with a dedicated area for an activity room.
“It will allow us to serve the community even better,” Miller said.
This year’s auction will include a number of high-end items and merchandise right down to the very affordable, which means everyone can get involved in the bidding.
Four bedroom suites, wood dining room sets, deluxe roll top desks, sewing cabinets, leaf blowers, chain saws, outdoor furniture, bicycles, crafts and more will be up for purchase.
At 12:30 p.m. the specialty auction will begin, including a 32-by-48-foot building, buggies, a Lake Erie walleye fishing trip, frozen meat, play sets, a small barn, a hunting blind, horses with a deluxe top buggy and an open two-seater buggy.
In addition there will be two new items this year including a 14-by-20-foot timber-frame pavilion and a 14-by-16-foot cottage with a loft, something Hershberger said would make a great hunting blind. Both structures will be built on site.
Over 40 locally made, hand-stitched quilts will be on display at 1 p.m. The famous kids’ auction will take place at 2 p.m. Kids can bid on some items for the younger generation and even take a shot at auctioning.
“It takes a community to make this event possible,” Hershberger said. “We can do all of this work, but if nobody comes and nobody donates, it is useless. It takes a community to make it all worthwhile.”
The Holmes County Home is located at 7260 state Route 83, just south of Holmesville.