The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

WAITSBURG-The Waitsburg Booster club held a "Not So Silent Auction" and Spaghetti feed last Friday night to raise funds for a new press box on the football field.

While attendance was a little lower than expected, approximately $4,000 was raised for the project. That brings the boosters closer to their $25,000 goal with a total of $10,000 raised to date.

Items up for bid ranged from gardening goodies and barbecue gear, to a sevennight stay in a Matzatlan five-star resort.

The truck load of gravel was a hot item that was finally snagged for $130. A small biding war on a backpack sprayer ended peacefully, but Walla Walla County Commissioner Perry Dozier was quite disappointed to find he'd missed that opportunity and considered a private buyout.

A one-night stay at the Walla Walla Suites hotel with four Walla Walla Sweets baseball game tickets was a "sweet" little package. The chance to bring home a trophy steelhead or a bass worth stuffing with a Hells Canyon jet boat fishing trip was won by the Stevensons here in Waitsburg.

Carla Schettler was a bidding pro who came away with quite a haul. Her new treasures consist of two bucking shoot seats at the Pendleton Roundup with a bottle of Pendleton spirits. The truck load of gravel, a day worth of yard work from a group of Jubilee football players, a golf trip to Wildhorse Casino and a football memorabilia calendar signed by the team were all things that she wasn't going to let get away from her.

Dr. Carol Clark will be pampered during her fournight stay in Las Vegas, Nevada, and Becky Harshman will soak up some muchneeded sun with her family on the beaches of Matzatlan. Yours truly can not wait to plunge down the Salmon River in Idaho, and the local golfers will be swinging the day away in Dayton, Milton- Freewater, and the Walla Walla Country Club.

The boosters plan to organize breakfast fundraisers as they move foward with more fundraising, and they hope some private donations may come in so that this summer's ground breaking date can be met.

For any football fanatics out there, Coach Bartlow also has calendars and magnets complete with the coming years schedule and DVD's of all of last years games that are still available.

"Fabulous Fred" (Fred Hamann) needs a new home for his play-by-play broadcasting, so get in touch with Jeff Bartlow or Ross Hamman with any questions or ideas concerning donations.