The 74th annual Hopkinsville Rotary Auction began Monday, April 22, at the Memorial Building downtown to raise money for college scholarships and grants benefitting local organizations. Rotarian Kelly Gates is chairing this year’s auction.
The main auction — one of Hopkinsville’s oldest and most successful fundraisers — runs nightly through Saturday, April 27. Auction items will include everything from country hams to furniture, University of Kentucky football tickets, beer naming rights at Hopkinsville Brewing Co., a lawn mower, gift cards to numerous local businesses and more.
The auction, which the club reports has produced more than $11 million since it was established in 1951, raises money through three sources during the week — the main auction, a diner and sweet shop, and cash donations to the Hour Club and Goat Club. The Hour Club receives contributions in increments equal to the cost of one credit hour of tuition, $186, at Hopkinsville Community College. Smaller donations go to the Goat Club.
After the opening night concluded, Gates reported that Rotarians sold 91 items through the main auction for $6,752. Food sales brought in $2,800, and the Hour and Gait clubs generated $117,180. That put the total $126,732.
Last year the auction brought in $523,671, which included roughly $122,722 from the auction, $37,059 from concessions, and $363,889 from the Hour and Goat clubs. The 2023 total was just shy of the auction record set in 2022, when the final tally was $536,335.
Here’s how to get involved with the auction:
When
- Monday, April 22 to Thursday, April 25 – 6 to 9 p.m.
- Friday, April 26 – 6 to 10 p.m.
- Saturday, April 27 – 6 p.m. until the last item is sold
Where
- Memorial Building, 1202 S. Virginia St.
How to listen or watch
- WHOP Radio. 98.7 FM
- Spectrum TV cable channel 376
- Streaming on Facebook
- Streaming on the Rotary website
- Streaming on YouTube
How to place a bid
- Call 270-885-7500
- Bid Board items online bidding
How to donate to the Hour Club
- Call 270-886-3034
Dining options
- Lunch served 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tuesday to Friday
- Dinner served 5-8 p.m. Monday to Saturday
- Thursday night special: Smoked chicken from the pit
- Friday night special: Catfish plates
- Saturday night special: Ribeye sandwich
- Call 270-885-8424 to place to-go orders at lunch
- Boston butts to-go are $40
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.
