Mennonite auction set for Saturday

RITZVILLE — The Menno Mennonite Church will celebrate the 40th anniversary of its Country Auction and Relief Sale Saturday at the church, 1378 North Damon Rd. near Ritzville. The church is about 20 miles from Ritzville, 25 miles from Moses Lake.

Admission is free, and there is free parking. Limited handicapped parking is available for people with handicapped cards only. There is RV parking, but no hookups. Credit cards are accepted for auction items only.

The auction starts at noon, but there are activities all morning long. Breakfast is served from 7 a.m., with the exhibit booths opening at 10 a.m. The Liberty Quartet will perform at 10:30 a.m. The four-man group is based in Boise, Idaho, and tours the West.

At 40 years old, the auction has developed some of its own traditions. Fresh apple cider is pressed on site all day and fresh apple butter is made all day long in a huge copper kettle.

Many of the food vendors are part of the tradition too. Those include the sausage sandwiches, barbecue ribs, homemade pies, raisin fritters and baked goods, kraut runza (rolls packed with ground beef, onions and sausage), green bean soup and Amish cheese, among others. Vendors also will be selling slab bacon, ham and bulk sausage.

The My Coins Count booth will be anchoring the vendor section. My Coins Count is an “intergenerational” project built on spare change, the website said. The goal is to fill the big jar at the booth with spare change. For 2017 the proceeds will go to help provide fresh drinking water.

Other vendors will be selling international crafts, antiques, fabric and quilting supplies, ground wheat flour and repurposed items, among others.

But the auction is most famous for its quilts, which come from near and far. There are simple designs, elaborate designs, bed coverings, baby quilts, wall hangings. Quilts come from as near as Royal City and as far as Pennsylvania and Ontario, Canada. The auction also features hand crocheted afghans; like the quilts, many are made by Mennonite volunteers.

There’s even a tied fleece blanket made and donated by the church's middle school Sunday School class.

It’s not all quilts. There are items made from metal and wood, collectibles, and tables with inlaid glass tops depicting logos for Washington State University, University of Washington and the Seattle Seahawks.

Proceeds from the auction, and similar auctions at other Mennonite churches around North America, go to the church’s international relief organization, the Mennonite Central Committee.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.