The 70th annual Hopkinsville Rotary Auction wrapped up its first night Monday with $50,400 raised as Rotarians and volunteers navigated new ways to stage one of the community’s oldest traditions.
The main auction pulled in $5,160 from 70 items sold in two hours, chairman Scott Cowan reported. Donations to the Hour Club totaled $45,240, including money raised in March shortly before the coronavirus pandemic put the April auction on hold.
The auction continues from 7 to 9 tonight. The public cannot attend in person, and all bids are being placed by calling the Memorial Building at 270-885-7500.
Donations to the Hour Club can be made by calling the Hopkinsville Rotary Club office at 270-886-3034. Donations are made in $174 increments, the equivalent of tuition for one credit hour at HCC.
The auction airs on WHOP, 98.7 FM and 1230 AM, and is livestreamed online.
Last year, the auction’s opening night produced $71,328. However, that included revenue sources, such as the popular diner, that aren’t an option this year because of pandemic restrictions.
See our coverage of the 2020 Rotary auction:
- Hopkinsville Rotary Club postpones annual auction until Sept. 14
- Hopkinsville Rotary Auction, minus the live audience, starts Monday
- Hopkinsville Rotary Auction pulls in more than $50,000 on opening night
- Rotary Club gets a matching offer from Planters Bank to boost auction
- Halfway through Rotary Auction’s novel run, chairman makes plea for Hour Club donors
- Rotarians hit the $100,000 mark and head into final two nights of auction
- Rotary Auction pulls in a surprising total
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
