For more information or a taped actuality, contact: Darnell Holopirek, 620-792-9367.

Aug. 4, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Story by Michael Dawes
dawesm@bartonccc.edu

College’s 28th Annual Big Benefit Auction Tickets on Sale through Aug. 14

Tickets for Barton County Community College’s 28th Annual Big Benefit Auction, themed “Star-Spangled Night,” can still be purchased, but only through Aug. 14. This year’s auction is set for 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 26 at the Highland Hotel and Convention Center, Great Bend.

The silent auction begins at 6 p.m. Carr Auction and Real Estate Inc. will conduct the live auction an hour later. A meal with a summer picnic theme will be served before the live auction. After the auction, a dance is planned from 9 p.m. to midnight, featuring disc jockey Bobby Wild, who will play music from the ’60s and ’70s during the dance.

Tickets are $25 a piece. People can purchase a table that seats eight for $200 and sit with friends, employees and business associates during the event. Purchase tickets by contacting the BCCC Foundation office, 620-792-9306. Tickets will not be sold at the door the night of the event.

Highlighting the list of auction items this year is a four-night, all-expense-paid trip to Cancun. This year’s auction also features a trip to Las Vegas with a four-night stay in the New York New York Hotel & Casino. Additionally, a three-day-and-night stay in Branson, Mo., in a three-bedroom, three-bath condominium with a kitchen is up for bidding.

For football fans, the auction offers tickets for two to the Kansas State University-Illinois State University game in Manhattan Sept. 2. Big XII football fans can get a jump on the upcoming football season by winning the bid for two tickets to the conference opener when KSU plays Oklahoma State in Manhattan Oct. 7.

Car racing fans can also benefit from this year’s auction by winning two tickets to the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kan., for the NASCAR Busch series Yellow Transportation 300, which will be run on Sept. 30. For fine-dining enthusiasts, a gourmet seven-course dinner for six people is being offered. And, a catered dinner for 20 people is also up for bidding.

This year’s auction is being co-chaired by Great Bend and Larned business owners Dr. Doug and Jane Ayre. The couple own and operate Eye Care of Great Bend and Larned Eye Health.

The Big Benefit Auction is the Foundation's longest running fund-raiser. All money raised goes toward academic scholarships and program enhancements at Barton.